Chapter 5 - The First Lead
The silence in the car was deafening after the door slammed shut.
I watched the digital clock on the dashboard,
each minute feeling like an hour.
Outside,
the shadows seemed to shift and grow,
mimicking the monsters in my head.
I couldn't just sit here.
I knew the lighthouse better than Dominic’s men did.
I knew the basement door that was hidden by the rising tide.
If Gemma was smart,
she would be hiding there,
not on the third floor.
I looked at the driver,
who was focused on his tablet,
tracking the heat signatures of the men inside.
Carefully,
slowly,
I reached for the door handle.
I slipped out into the cold rain,
the wet pavement soaking through my thin shoes.
I stayed low,
moving between the crates like I was back in the pharmacy aisles.
The air was thick with the scent of salt and diesel.
I reached the base of the lighthouse,
the waves crashing against the stone with a violent roar.
I found the small wooden hatch,
slippery with algae.
I pulled with all my strength,
my muscles screaming,
until it gave way with a wet thud.
I dropped into the dark,
landing in knee-deep water that was freezing cold.
"Gemma?"
I whispered,
my voice trembling.
A small whimper answered me from the corner.
"Clara?"
I stumbled through the water,
my hands searching the dark until I found her.
She was shivering,
her clothes torn,
her face bruised.
"I found the ledger,"
she sobbed,
clutching a waterproof bag to her chest.
"The Morettis...
they’re working with our uncle."
"They’re trying to kill Dominic."
My blood turned to ice.
This wasn't just a kidnapping.
It was a coup.
"We have to get out of here,"
I said,
pulling her toward the hatch.
Suddenly,
the stairs above us groaned.
A flashlight beam cut through the dark,
landing right on us.
"Well,
well,"
a voice sneered.
"The best friend found the treasure."
I looked up and saw a man with a scarred face,
his gun pointed directly at my heart.
But before he could pull the trigger,
the wall behind him exploded.
Dominic burst through the stone,
May you like
a literal force of nature,
his eyes glowing with a rage that was terrifying to behold.
