Chapter 6
Galen read the message twice.
Then a third time.
Ainsley dies next.
His first reaction surprised him.
Not sympathy.
Not revenge.
Confusion.
“Why would Dominic threaten Ainsley?”
Ruiz took Bianca’s phone.
“Because alliances change when people panic.”
Marcus frowned.
“Or because this is staged.”
Galen nodded.
“Ainsley could be with him.”
Ruiz replied, “Exactly.”
Bianca held Eira closer.
“You are not going.”
Galen looked at the message again.
“He wants Celeste’s recorder.”
“The police have it now,” Ruiz said.
“Dominic doesn’t know that.”
“Good.”
Galen’s eyes met hers.
“You want to use me.”
“I want to use the meeting he requested.”
Bianca stepped between them.
“No.”
“Mom.”
“No. Your daughter almost lost one parent. You do not volunteer to become the second.”
Galen’s expression softened.
“I’m not volunteering for anything.”
“You’re considering it.”
He didn’t answer.
Bianca knew him too well.
Eira looked between the adults.
“Who is going to die?”
Everyone froze.
Galen crouched.
“Nobody.”
“But the message said—”
Bianca quickly covered.
“It was grown-up nonsense.”
Eira stared at Galen.
“Is Ainsley in trouble?”
Galen hesitated.
Ainsley had terrified his daughter.
Threatened her.
Tried to erase Celeste.
Possibly knew something about Celeste’s death.
But Eira was four.
And she still asked whether the woman who hurt her was in trouble.
“Yes,” Galen said carefully.
Eira looked down.
“Are you going to help her?”
That question landed harder than expected.
Galen touched her cheek.
“I’m going to help the police find the truth.”
Ruiz arranged the operation.
Pier 19 had been abandoned for almost a decade.
Old warehouses.
Rusting cranes.
Empty storage buildings owned by a development company.
A development company once controlled by Harold Vale.
That was not a coincidence.
Police surrounded the area quietly.
Galen wore a concealed transmitter.
The real recorder remained in evidence.
Marcus found an identical model online through a collector and loaded a copy of the audio onto it.
“You do exactly what Ruiz says,” Bianca told Galen.
He nodded.
“And if anything feels wrong, you leave.”
“I know.”
“Galen.”
He looked at his mother.
Her eyes were wet.
“You promised Eira you would always choose her.”
He swallowed.
“I remember.”
“Then come back.”
He hugged her.
Then knelt beside Eira.
She had Celeste’s repaired locket around her neck.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Mommy was brave.”
Galen’s throat tightened.
“She was.”
“You be careful brave.”
He smiled despite everything.
“I’ll be careful brave.”
Pier 19 smelled like saltwater and rust.
Galen arrived at 8:02 p.m.
Alone to anyone watching.
Ruiz’s team was hidden several hundred feet away.
The transmitter under Galen’s shirt felt heavy.
He entered Warehouse 3.
Dark.
Empty.
Except for one hanging industrial light.
“Ainsley?”
His voice echoed.
Nothing.
“Dominic?”
Footsteps sounded somewhere above.
Galen looked toward the catwalk.
A figure appeared.
Nolan.
Galen’s fists tightened.
“You.”
Nolan descended the stairs slowly.
His jaw was bruised from Galen’s punch.
“You hit harder than you look.”
“Where is your sister?”
Nolan laughed.
“You still care?”
“No.”
“Good. She doesn’t care about you either.”
“Where is Dominic?”
Nolan’s smile disappeared.
“You brought the recorder?”
Galen held it up.
“Where is Ainsley?”
A door opened behind Nolan.
Ainsley stumbled out.
Her hands were bound.
Her makeup was smeared.
A cut marked one eyebrow.
She looked genuinely terrified.
“Galen.”
He stared at her.
“You expect me to believe this?”
Her eyes filled.
“Please.”
Nolan grabbed her arm.
She recoiled.
That looked real.
“Where’s Dominic?” Galen asked again.
Nolan smiled.
“Watching.”
Galen glanced around.
Cameras.
There had to be cameras.
“You work for him?”
Nolan’s face tightened.
“We worked with him.”
Ainsley whispered.
“Nolan, stop.”
“You already ruined everything.”
“To hell with you.”
Nolan shoved her against a steel post.
Galen instinctively moved forward.
Nolan pulled a gun.
“Stay there.”
Galen stopped.
Police were listening.
He needed Nolan talking.
“Why does Dominic want the recorder?”
Nolan laughed.
“Because your dead wife couldn’t mind her own business.”
Galen’s eyes darkened.
“You knew her.”
“Barely.”
“Ainsley knew her.”
Ainsley began crying.
“Nolan.”
“Shut up.”
Galen looked at Ainsley.
“How long?”
She couldn’t meet his eyes.
“How long did you know Celeste?”
“Years.”
“Did you follow her?”
Silence.
“Did you watch Eira?”
Ainsley’s face crumpled.
“Yes.”
Galen’s hands curled.
“Before you met me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked toward Nolan.
He raised the gun slightly.
“Don’t.”
Galen understood.
Nolan wasn’t rescuing his sister.
He was controlling her.
“Why are you protecting Dominic?”
Nolan snapped.
“You think this is about loyalty?”
“Then what?”
“Money.”
Of course.
Nolan laughed bitterly.
“It was always money.”
Ainsley closed her eyes.
Galen forced himself to stay calm.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Enough to stalk my wife?”
Nolan’s jaw tightened.
“That wasn’t me.”
“Ainsley?”
Ainsley whispered.
“I watched her.”
Galen’s pulse pounded in his ears.
“Did you kill her?”
“No!”
The answer came instantly.
Desperately.
“No, Galen. I swear.”
“Then who did?”
Ainsley looked toward a dark corner.
Nolan moved.
“Don’t.”
Galen followed her gaze.
Someone was there.
He could feel it.
“Dominic?”
No answer.
Ainsley’s breathing accelerated.
“Nolan, he said we were leaving.”
Nolan scoffed.
“You believe everything.”
“He promised.”
“He promised Dad too.”
Galen seized on it.
“What did he promise Harold?”
Nolan’s face hardened.
Ainsley whispered.
“Protection.”
“From what?”
“Prison.”
Nolan shouted.
“Shut up!”
Ainsley flinched.
But then something inside her changed.
Maybe she realized Nolan wasn’t saving her.
Maybe she realized Dominic had abandoned them.
Maybe she was simply done being afraid.
She looked at Galen.
“Our father stole money.”
Nolan stepped toward her.
“Ainsley.”
“He bribed officials. Dominic helped him.”
“Ainsley!”
“And when Celeste found out, Dad wanted to confess.”
Nolan struck her.
Galen lunged forward.
The gun swung toward him.
“Back!”
Galen stopped.
Ainsley spat blood onto the concrete.
No gore, just a split lip.
She looked up.
“Dad gave Celeste evidence.”
Galen’s voice shook.
“Then what?”
“Dominic found out.”
Nolan grabbed Ainsley by the hair.
“Enough!”
Galen shouted.
“Let her go!”
Nolan aimed the gun at him.
“You didn’t come here to ask questions.”
“Then why am I here?”
“The recorder.”
Galen held it out.
“Take it.”
Nolan hesitated.
“You bring anyone?”
“No.”
“You wearing a wire?”
“No.”
Nolan laughed.
“Of course you are.”
Galen’s stomach tightened.
Nolan pulled a small handheld detector from his pocket.
He began walking closer.
Police would hear everything.
Ruiz’s voice remained silent because Galen wore an earpiece too small to see.
Nolan swept the detector.
It beeped.
His face changed.
“Idiot.”
He reached for Galen.
Then every light in the warehouse went out.
Darkness.
Ainsley screamed.
A gunshot exploded.
Galen dropped.
Police shouted from outside.
Another gunshot.
Metal clanged.
Galen crawled behind a pillar.
“Police! Drop the weapon!”
Emergency lights flashed red.
Galen looked toward where Ainsley had been.
She was gone.
Nolan was on the floor, clutching his shoulder.
His gun lay several feet away.
Ruiz’s tactical team stormed in.
“Nolan Vale! Hands where we can see them!”
Nolan screamed.
“He shot me!”
“Who?”
“Dominic!”
Galen stood.
“Where is Ainsley?”
Nolan looked around wildly.
“She was right there!”
Ruiz rushed in.
“Galen, are you hit?”
“No.”
“Stay down.”
A sound came from the far side of the warehouse.
An engine.
Galen ran toward the loading bay.
“Galen!” Ruiz shouted.
He reached the open doors.
A black sedan accelerated toward the pier exit.
In the passenger seat, he saw Ainsley.
Her face against the window.
Someone was driving.
Gray hair.
Dominic.
Police vehicles moved to intercept.
The sedan swerved.
Crashed through a chain gate.
Then disappeared down an access road.
Ruiz cursed into her radio.
“Block the east road!”
Nolan laughed weakly from inside.
“You won’t catch him.”
Galen turned.
“Why?”
Nolan’s face was pale.
“Because that road doesn’t go east.”
Ruiz rushed back.
“What are you talking about?”
Nolan smiled despite the pain.
“It goes under the old terminal.”
Galen remembered the property plans.
A service tunnel.
Built decades earlier.
Mostly forgotten.
“Where does it exit?”
Nolan looked at him.
“Your father’s old shipyard.”
Police moved immediately.
Nolan was handcuffed and taken by ambulance under guard.
Galen followed Ruiz toward a cruiser.
She stopped him.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“This is no longer a controlled meeting.”
“Ainsley knows who killed Celeste.”
“She may.”
“And Dominic has her.”
“Which makes this dangerous.”
Galen stared at Ruiz.
“He has spent years inside my family.”
“And that is exactly why you cannot think clearly.”
Galen leaned closer.
“I’m thinking clearly for the first time in four years.”
Ruiz held his gaze.
Then her radio crackled.
A unit had reached the shipyard.
No sedan.
No Dominic.
No Ainsley.
But they found something else.
A vehicle hidden inside an old maintenance building.
Ruiz listened.
Then slowly turned toward Galen.
“What?”
She didn’t answer immediately.
“What did they find?”
Ruiz finally said:
“Celeste’s car.”
Galen stared at her.
“That car was destroyed.”
“That’s what the insurance report said.”
His skin went cold.
Ruiz continued.
“The VIN matches.”
Galen could barely speak.
“How?”
“We’re going to find out.”
The vehicle his wife supposedly died in had never been destroyed.
Someone had hidden it for four years.
And inside the trunk, police found a mechanic’s uniform.
A toolbox.
And a photograph of Galen’s father standing beside Dominic Mercer.
May you like
On the back were three handwritten words.
He knew everything.
