Chapter 13 - What They Took From Him
Vera did not wait for security.
She grabbed Nikolai’s flashlight and entered the passage.
Dmitri caught up seconds later.
“Vera!”
“They have him.”
“We don’t know that.”
“There’s blood.”
The tunnel led toward the lake.
They found Nikolai’s torn shirt.
Then his watch.
Vera picked it up.
A smear of blood crossed the face.
She refused to panic.
“Who is left?”
Dmitri understood.
Vale imprisoned.
Marcus imprisoned.
Helian surrendered.
Most senior operatives arrested.
But Vale had children.
A daughter.
Cassandra Vale.
She had disappeared before the arrests.
Dmitri searched.
A vehicle registered under a false company had crossed the northern gate twenty minutes earlier.
They followed.
Cassandra had taken Nikolai to Bellweather.
Everything returned there.
The abandoned factory.
The burned building.
The place where two families had been destroyed.
Vera entered alone because Cassandra demanded it.
Nikolai was tied to a chair.
Blood ran from his eyebrow.
He looked furious when he saw Vera.
“You should not be here.”
She nearly laughed.
“Nice to see you too.”
Cassandra emerged.
She was younger than Vera expected.
Thirty.
Elegant.
Calm.
“My father lost everything because of your family.”
“Your father destroyed people for decades.”
“He built an empire.”
“He built a prison and convinced you it was a kingdom.”
Cassandra’s expression cracked.
Nikolai watched Vera.
She kept talking.
“You can kill us. It changes nothing. The records are public. Your father confessed.”
“He did not.”
Vera took out her phone.
Daniel had obtained Vale’s signed cooperation agreement that morning.
She showed Cassandra.
Her father had traded information for protection.
Including evidence against his own daughter.
Cassandra stared.
“He gave me up?”
“Yes.”
The gun in her hand lowered.
That was all Dmitri needed.
His team entered.
Cassandra was arrested.
Vera rushed to Nikolai.
“You’re bleeding.”
“I noticed.”
She untied him.
He caught her face between his hands.
“You walked into a hostage situation.”
“So?”
“I specifically asked you not to.”
“You were kidnapped. Your authority was temporarily suspended.”
Despite the blood, he laughed.
Then he kissed her forehead.
Outside, dawn began breaking over Bellweather.
For the first time, Vera saw the town in daylight.
Not as a graveyard.
As a place that could be rebuilt.
Nikolai stood beside her.
“What are you thinking?”
“That we should buy it.”
He stared.
“The town?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Turn the factory into something useful. Housing. Workshops. A community garden.”
“You want a garden.”
“Obviously.”
His mouth curved.
“I’ll buy it.”
“No.”
He sighed.
“We will buy it.”
“Better.”
Back at the estate, doctors treated Nikolai.
That afternoon, Vera returned to her cottage.
She found the front door open.
Her heart stopped.
Not again.
She entered carefully.
Nothing had been disturbed.
Except the kitchen table.
A small velvet box sat in the center.
Vera stared.
“Nikolai?”
No answer.
She opened it.
Inside was not a ring.
It was a brass key.
A tag hung from it.
GREENHOUSE NINE.
On the reverse, in Nikolai’s handwriting:
MEET ME THERE AT MIDNIGHT.
Vera smiled.
Then she noticed another piece of paper beneath it.
The handwriting was not Nikolai’s.
It said:
May you like
DON’T GO.
HE STILL DOESN’T KNOW WHAT HIS FATHER PROMISED YOURS.
