Chapter 7
Victor heard glass shatter through the phone.
“Lily!”
Gunshots followed.
Then the line went dead.
Victor ran.
Hayes shouted behind him, but Victor was already heading upstairs.
They reached the vehicles within seconds.
Police radios exploded with activity.
Officers at the farmhouse reported an attack.
Multiple intruders.
Power cut.
Shots fired.
Victor couldn’t breathe.
“Is Ethan safe?”
No one answered.
“Is my son safe?”
Hayes grabbed a radio.
“Unit Twelve, status on child.”
Static.
Then a voice.
“We’re clearing the second floor.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Faster.”
Hayes turned.
“They know what they’re doing.”
Victor stared at him.
“My fourteen-month-old son is in there.”
The convoy tore down the road.
Victor called Lily repeatedly.
No answer.
Margaret.
No answer.
Rosa.
No answer.
Then Daniel’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Yes?”
His face changed.
“Who is this?”
Victor turned.
Daniel put it on speaker.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Mr. Blackwood.”
Victor took the phone.
“Serena?”
Laughter.
Then Serena’s real voice.
“Still pretending you’re in control?”
“Where is Ethan?”
“Why? Suddenly interested in being a father?”
Victor’s hand tightened.
“If you touch him—”
“What? You’ll destroy me?”
She laughed again.
“You already tried.”
“Serena, listen to me.”
“I’ve been listening to you for years.”
“You want money?”
Silence.
Victor understood.
“You want money. Fine.”
“I wanted more than money.”
“What?”
“I wanted what Claire had.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“You killed her.”
Serena didn’t answer immediately.
Then she whispered:
“Claire killed herself.”
Victor’s eyes opened.
“What?”
“She should have stayed out of my business.”
“So you poisoned her.”
“Careful, Victor.”
“Say it.”
“You always were slow.”
Victor could hear his own heartbeat.
“Where is Ethan?”
Serena laughed softly.
“Your precious little heir.”
Victor felt sick.
“He’s innocent.”
“So was I once.”
“No.”
Victor’s voice hardened.
“No, Serena. Whatever Claire did, whatever happened years ago, none of it gave you the right to hurt her. And nothing gives you the right to hurt my son.”
Silence.
Then Serena said:
“You sound like her.”
Victor’s throat tightened.
“She said the same thing.”
Hayes was tracing the call.
Victor needed to keep her talking.
“What did Claire say?”
“Near the end?”
Serena’s tone became strangely calm.
“She told me she had discovered the pills.”
Victor swallowed.
“She knew you were drugging her.”
“She suspected.”
“She went to Dr. Warren.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked at Hayes.
Hayes nodded.
They had confirmation.
“What happened when she came home?”
Serena laughed.
“You know what happened.”
Victor’s stomach turned.
“You were waiting.”
“With Rourke.”
“Where is he?”
“You’ll meet him soon enough.”
Then Victor heard something in the background.
A child crying.
Ethan.
Victor almost shouted.
“That’s him.”
Serena said nothing.
“I heard Ethan.”
“You should’ve spent more time listening to him when you had the chance.”
“Put Lily on the phone.”
Silence.
“Serena.”
“She’s busy.”
Victor’s fear intensified.
“Where is Lily?”
“Do you know what I hate about that girl?”
Victor looked at Hayes.
“Where is she?”
“She watches everything.”
“You’re jealous of a nanny?”
“I’m tired of women getting in my way.”
Victor’s blood ran cold.
“You hurt Claire because she got in your way.”
“She ruined my life.”
“And Lily?”
“She should have learned to mind her own business.”
Victor gripped the phone.
“If you hurt her—”
Serena laughed.
“You do care about her.”
Victor didn’t respond.
“Oh, Victor.”
Her voice became almost amused.
“Poor Claire.”
“What does Claire have to do with Lily?”
“She always worried you’d replace her.”
Victor’s anger disappeared beneath confusion.
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing.”
“Serena.”
“I’ll call again.”
The line disconnected.
Hayes looked at the trace.
“Got it.”
“Where?”
Hayes shook his head.
“Burner phone bounced through several towers.”
Victor slammed his hand against the dashboard.
They reached the farmhouse.
Police vehicles surrounded it.
One attacker lay dead near the front porch.
Another had been arrested.
Victor ran inside.
“Lily!”
Margaret came from the kitchen.
Victor grabbed her shoulders.
“Where’s Ethan?”
Her face was wet with tears.
“They took them.”
Victor stared.
“Both?”
“Lily and Ethan.”
His body went numb.
“How?”
Margaret sobbed.
“They came through the back.”
Rosa appeared.
Blood stained her sleeve.
“Sir…”
Victor turned.
“You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing.”
“What happened?”
“They knew exactly where Lily was.”
Victor looked around.
“What about the police?”
“One officer was attacked outside. Another was shot.”
Hayes joined them.
“Alive?”
Rosa nodded.
“They were protecting us. There were too many.”
Victor clenched his jaw.
“Someone gave Serena the layout.”
Hayes nodded.
“And the police positions.”
Silence.
That was worse.
Serena had help beyond Victor’s security.
Possibly inside law enforcement.
Hayes’ face hardened.
“We tell nobody our next move.”
Victor looked at him.
“You still have an arrested attacker.”
Hayes nodded.
“Let me talk to him.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“You’re angry.”
“My son was kidnapped.”
“Exactly.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Then use that.”
Twenty minutes later, Hayes interrogated the captured attacker inside a nearby police vehicle.
Victor watched through the window.
The man refused to speak.
Until Hayes showed him a photograph of Rourke.
Then another photograph.
A burned-out vehicle.
Victor couldn’t hear the conversation.
But the attacker suddenly became pale.
Hayes came out five minutes later.
“What did you show him?”
“A bluff.”
Victor almost smiled.
“Did it work?”
“Yes.”
The attacker believed Rourke planned to eliminate everyone involved after Serena escaped.
“He gave us a location.”
Victor’s heart jumped.
“Where?”
“An old private airfield.”
Victor looked at Daniel.
“Serena has access to a plane?”
Daniel checked.
“One corporate jet is missing from our normal rotation.”
Victor’s expression darkened.
“What do you mean missing?”
“It was scheduled for maintenance.”
“But?”
“It isn’t at the hangar.”
Hayes cursed.
“She’s planning to leave the country.”
Victor turned toward the door.
Hayes blocked him.
“No.”
“You’re wasting time.”
“Listen to me.”
Victor stopped.
“If Serena gets on that plane with Ethan, we lose control of the situation.”
“So move.”
“We are.”
“I’m coming.”
Hayes shook his head.
“Absolutely not.”
Victor stepped closer.
“You’re not stopping me.”
Hayes studied him.
Then sighed.
“Fine. But you follow orders.”
Victor didn’t answer.
“That means exactly what I say.”
“Fine.”
They drove toward the airfield.
No sirens.
No flashing lights.
Hayes used only trusted officers.
Victor sat in silence.
He kept seeing Ethan’s face.
Kept hearing his cry through Serena’s phone.
Beside him, Daniel checked flight data.
“There’s a jet on the runway.”
Victor looked up.
“Moving?”
“Not yet.”
Hayes radioed his team.
“Approach dark.”
They stopped half a mile away.
Victor could see the lights of the airfield.
A jet sat near an old hangar.
Its engines were off.
Hayes handed Victor a protective vest.
“Put it on.”
Victor did.
They moved through darkness.
Closer.
Closer.
Then Victor heard shouting.
A woman screamed.
“Let me go!”
Lily.
Victor started running.
Hayes grabbed him.
“Wait.”
Through a gap in the hangar door, Victor saw her.
Lily was tied to a chair.
Her face bruised.
Rourke stood beside her.
Serena held Ethan.
Victor’s son was crying.
Serena bounced him almost mockingly.
“Your father is coming,” she said.
Victor froze.
She knew.
Rourke looked toward the darkness.
“How?”
Serena smiled.
“Because Victor can never stay away from something he thinks belongs to him.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
Hayes whispered.
“She expects you.”
Inside, Serena kissed Ethan’s forehead.
The gesture made Victor sick.
Then she looked directly toward the gap where Victor was hiding.
“Come inside, Victor.”
Hayes reached for him.
But Victor stepped forward.
“Victor, no.”
He walked into the hangar.
Serena smiled.
“There he is.”
Rourke raised a gun.
Lily’s eyes widened.
“Victor, run!”
Victor ignored her.
He looked only at Ethan.
“Give me my son.”
Serena held Ethan tighter.
“You know what?”
May you like
She smiled.
“I don’t think I will.”
