Chapter 12 - The Man Behind My Ex-Husband
Blaire stopped breathing.
“Fiona.”
“Mommy!”
Victor Shaw pulled the phone away.
“She’s unharmed.”
“If you touch her—”
“I need your shares.”
Luca stepped into frame.
“You won’t leave the city alive.”
Shaw smiled.
“This is why billionaires make poor negotiators. You think everything is leverage.”
He looked at Blaire.
“A mother understands value.”
Blaire’s fear became cold.
“What do you want me to sign?”
Luca turned.
“No.”
She ignored him.
Shaw named an abandoned Sterling distribution facility.
One hour.
No police.
Blaire ended the call.
Luca immediately contacted federal agents.
“He said no police.”
“And kidnappers are famous for keeping agreements.”
“I’m going.”
“So am I.”
At the facility, Blaire carried unsigned transfer documents.
Luca wore a concealed transmitter.
Shaw waited beside Fiona.
The little girl ran toward Blaire.
A guard caught her.
“Mommy!”
Blaire’s entire body wanted to move.
She forced herself still.
“Let her go first.”
“Sign first.”
“No.”
Shaw smiled.
“David said you were stubborn.”
“You knew David?”
“I hired him.”
Blaire stared.
Not Graham.
Shaw.
Graham had authorized operations, but Shaw had selected David.
Had watched him.
Had threatened Fiona.
David had betrayed Shaw when he refused to kill Blaire.
“You destroyed my marriage.”
“No. David did that himself.”
For once, Blaire agreed.
She signed.
Shaw checked the pages.
Then laughed.
“These aren’t valid.”
“No.”
His face hardened.
“You think this is clever?”
“I think you’re standing in a Sterling building explaining a twenty-six-year criminal conspiracy while every word is being recorded.”
Shaw reached for a gun.
Luca moved.
Chaos erupted.
Federal agents entered.
Fiona dropped to the floor exactly as Blaire had taught her.
A gunshot sounded.
Luca staggered.
“Luca!”
Blaire ran.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
Shaw fled toward a loading bay.
Agents pursued.
Blaire pressed both hands against Luca’s wound.
“Stay with me.”
His eyes found hers.
“Fiona?”
“Safe.”
“Good.”
“Don’t you dare close your eyes.”
A weak smile.
“You’re very bossy.”
She cried.
“You asked a stranger to sleep on you.”
“Best decision I ever made.”
Paramedics arrived.
They pulled her away.
Fiona clung to Blaire while Luca was rushed into surgery.
Three hours.
No information.
Then a surgeon entered.
“The bullet missed his heart.”
Blaire nearly collapsed.
“He’s going to live.”
She hugged Fiona.
For the first time, the nightmare seemed capable of ending.
Then an agent approached.
“We arrested Shaw.”
Blaire closed her eyes.
“Thank God.”
“There’s something else.”
He handed her Shaw’s phone.
A scheduled message had been intercepted.
It was addressed to David.
Blaire opened it.
YOU FAILED ONCE. YOU WILL NOT FAIL TONIGHT.
Below it was a photograph.
May you like
Luca’s hospital room.
Taken ten minutes earlier.
