Chapter 9 - THE PRICE OF A CHILD
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I had spent thirty years planning for war.
But no strategy prepared me for the sight of an empty chair where a four-year-old child had been sitting.
Elena collapsed.
Adrian grabbed the nearest guard.
“Who took her?”
Nobody answered.
I walked into the hallway.
Every camera had been cut.
Every door had been opened from inside.
Someone in my organization had betrayed me.
I looked at Marcus.
“Find the leak.”
He nodded.
Then my phone rang.
Dominic.
I answered.
“Where is Chloe?”
A child's voice came through.
“Uncle Vincent?”
My heart shattered.
“Chloe?”
“I’m okay.”
“Where's your mother?”
No answer.
“Chloe?”
Dominic came on.
“She'll remain unharmed if you surrender the Thorne trust.”
“Who are you working for?”
Silence.
Then Dominic said:
“Your mother.”
I looked at her.
She shook her head.
“That's not possible.”
Dominic continued.
“She wanted the empire destroyed. I wanted it controlled.”
My mother stepped closer.
“Dominic, don't.”
He laughed.
“Too late.”
A location appeared on my phone.
An abandoned freight terminal.
The same terminal where Adrian's supposed death had been staged.
I grabbed my coat.
Adrian followed.
“So do I.”
My mother tried to stop us.
“This is exactly what they want.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
I pulled my weapon.
“They want the old Vincent.”
“What are you going to give them?”
I looked at the photograph of Chloe.
“The man she woke up.”
We reached the terminal with six vehicles.
No sirens.
No lights.
Just rain.
Inside, dozens of armed men surrounded the loading floor.
At the center stood Dominic.
He looked older than I remembered.
Tired.
Broken.
Chloe was beside him.
She wasn't crying.
She was holding her stuffed rabbit.
I stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Dominic lowered his weapon.
“You know what your father taught you?”
“Yes.”
“That love is weakness.”
I looked at Chloe.
“He was wrong.”
Dominic smiled.
“Then prove it.”
He dropped the gun.
A sniper laser appeared on my chest.
“Give me the trust.”
I took out the documents.
Adrian whispered:
“Vincent, don't.”
I handed the documents to Dominic.
He stared.
“You're giving up everything?”
“Yes.”
He looked almost disappointed.
Then he laughed.
“You really are different.”
A shot rang out.
Dominic staggered.
Blood spread across his shirt.
The sniper had fired.
But the bullet hadn't come from the roof.
It had come from behind me.
My mother.
She had shot Dominic.
She ran toward Chloe.
I tackled her.
The child screamed.
“Mommy!”
Elena rushed forward.
In the chaos, the sniper fired again.
Adrian stepped in front of me.
The bullet struck him.
He fell.
I caught my brother.
“No.”
He smiled.
“Take care of her.”
“Don't you dare.”
He looked toward Chloe.
“She chose you.”
Then his eyes closed.
For one unbearable second, I thought history was repeating itself.
Another brother.
Another body.
Another loss.
Then Adrian coughed.
“Damn.”
I stared at him.
The bullet had hit his body armor.
He grinned.
“Your face.”
I nearly punched him.
Instead I laughed.
For the first time in thirty years.
I laughed in the middle of a gunfight.
Then a final shot echoed.
My father had arrived.
And he wasn't wearing a hospital gown.
He was holding a rifle.
He looked at Chloe.
May you like
Then at me.
“Now,” he said, “we finish the family war.”
