Chapter 10 - The Man Upstairs
Conrad moved before anyone else.
Fay caught his arm.
“No.”
“He's in my house.”
“Our house.”
Even now.
Especially now.
Luca's team surrounded the staircase.
Victor appeared above them.
No weapon visible.
He looked fragile.
That made him more frightening.
Conrad stared at the man who had dominated his childhood.
“You're dead.”
Victor smiled.
“Clearly not.”
“Where's Kathleen?”
“Safe.”
Fay stepped forward.
Victor looked at her.
“So this is the woman.”
“This is my wife.”
The emphasis was unmistakable.
Victor smiled.
“I know.”
He had come to negotiate.
He possessed evidence capable of destroying people who had once worked for Conrad.
In exchange, he wanted the memory card.
Conrad refused.
Victor threatened Kathleen.
Fay refused.
Victor threatened Fay's father.
She refused again.
Then Victor made his mistake.
He threatened Conrad.
Fay laughed.
Victor frowned.
“You think that's funny?”
“No. I think you don't understand your son at all.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
Fay continued.
“You think Conrad's weakness is that he loves people.”
Conrad looked at her.
She did not look away.
“You're wrong. That's the only reason he's stronger than you.”
Victor reached inside his coat.
Security weapons rose.
But he removed only a phone.
Kathleen appeared on screen.
Alive.
Bound.
Victor gave them one hour.
Then he left.
Conrad wanted to follow.
Fay stopped him.
“He wants you angry.”
“I am angry.”
“I know.”
“He has your mother.”
“And we have something he doesn't.”
“What?”
“People who actually want to help us.”
Vivienne knew Victor's old safe houses.
Patrick knew his financial routes.
Mallory knew his communications.
Luca knew Conrad.
Rosa, from a hospital bed, remembered Victor mentioning trains.
Together, pieces formed a location.
An abandoned freight depot.
Conrad looked around the room.
For years, he had built power by making people afraid to disappoint him.
Fay had built something else simply by feeding people, listening to them, remembering their children, treating employees like human beings.
And now those people were helping.
Not from fear.
From loyalty.
Victor had never understood the difference.
At the depot, federal agents waited nearby.
Conrad and Fay entered together.
Kathleen was tied to a chair.
Victor stood beside her.
“Memory card.”
Fay held it up.
Victor smiled.
Conrad said, “Release her.”
Victor did.
Too easily.
Kathleen crossed the floor.
Fay embraced her.
Then Kathleen whispered, “It's a trap.”
Doors slammed.
Armed men appeared on the catwalk.
Victor smiled.
“I taught you better, son.”
Conrad looked upward.
“No.”
“You walked into an ambush.”
“No.”
A red laser appeared on Victor's chest.
Then another.
Then ten.
Federal tactical officers emerged from the darkness.
Conrad had known.
Victor's face changed.
“You set me up.”
“No,” Conrad said. “My wife did.”
Fay smiled faintly.
Victor reached for his weapon.
Kathleen screamed.
Conrad moved.
The shot struck metal.
Agents tackled Victor.
Within seconds, it was over.
Or should have been.
But as Victor was dragged away, he began laughing.
Conrad watched him.
“What?”
Victor smiled through blood.
“You still don't know.”
“Know what?”
“Why Kathleen chose Fay.”
Fay frowned.
Kathleen went pale.
Victor saw it.
His smile widened.
“Oh, she never told you?”
Kathleen whispered, “Victor, don't.”
He laughed.
“Ask your mother who Fay's real father is.”
Silence swallowed the depot.
Fay turned toward Kathleen.
May you like
Her mother couldn't meet her eyes.
Then Fay understood that Victor had finally found a secret even Conrad didn't know.
