Chapter 3 - The Night Someone Tried to Kill the TwinsDaniel moved before the first bodyguard reached the nursery.
He tore through the hallway.
“Mia!”
His daughter.
His son.
The twins.
Two men were already running toward the children's wing.
Gunfire echoed from downstairs.
Daniel pulled his weapon.
“Kill the lights.”
His security chief obeyed.
Darkness swallowed the house.
Daniel reached the nursery.
The nanny was already there.
Holding both babies.
Alive.
Safe.
Daniel took them.
One under each arm.
“Get the children to the safe room.”
The nanny ran.
A gunman appeared at the end of the hall.
Daniel fired.
The man dropped.
More footsteps.
Daniel moved backward.
He had survived wars.
He had survived betrayals.
He had never been more afraid.
Because tonight someone wasn't coming for him.
They were coming for his children.
Maya arrived at the hallway.
“Where's Noah?”
Daniel froze.
His son.
He looked toward the bedroom.
Empty.
“Noah!”
Nothing.
His blood ran cold.
The house had suddenly become a maze.
Maya grabbed his arm.
“Think.”
“He was with me.”
“Then someone took him.”
“No.”
Daniel ran.
He found Noah hiding beneath a desk.
The boy was shaking.
Maya crouched.
“He's okay.”
Noah looked at her.
Then reached for her hand.
Daniel noticed.
Again, the child trusted her.
The gunmen were eventually driven away.
Three were dead.
Two escaped.
The police arrived.
Daniel didn't speak to reporters.
He didn't speak to anyone.
He sat beside Noah.
The boy didn't talk.
Maya sat in the chair opposite.
“You don't have to say anything.”
Noah looked at her.
Then wrote something on a piece of paper.
They know about the babies.
Daniel read it.
“Who?”
Noah pointed toward the photograph of Elena.
Maya frowned.
“Someone told him something.”
Daniel looked around the room.
“Who knew you were at the grocery store?”
No answer.
Then a thought hit him.
Sabrina.
She had been back in New York for three months.
Daniel had received flowers twice.
He had ignored them.
Now he wondered why.
He called his security chief.
“Find Sabrina Vale.”
“She left the country six months ago.”
Daniel stopped.
“Confirm it.”
An hour later, the answer came.
Sabrina wasn't abroad.
She was living fifteen minutes away.
Under another name.
Daniel went to see her.
He found her sitting in a hotel suite.
She looked older.
More controlled.
“I heard about the shooting.”
“You know who did it.”
Sabrina smiled.
“You always were good at accusing people.”
“Who hired them?”
“No one hired them.”
“Don't lie to me.”
She sighed.
“You think this is about the twins?”
Daniel stared.
“What do you know?”
Sabrina stood.
“I know your wife wasn't supposed to die.”
His jaw tightened.
“What?”
“Her death was supposed to be an accident.”
Daniel felt something break inside him.
“Who planned it?”
Sabrina shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to understand that I am not the person you should be hunting.”
“You tried to take my wife’s place.”
“Yes.”
“You smiled when she died.”
Sabrina looked away.
“I know.”
Then she met his eyes.
“I regretted that smile every day.”
Daniel didn't trust her.
“You're lying.”
“Maybe.”
She walked toward him.
“But ask yourself one thing.”
“What?”
“Why did Elena's sister disappear the same night?”
Daniel froze.
Sabrina continued:
“Rose knew Elena was in danger.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“Then who does?”
Sabrina stepped closer.
“Your father.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“My father has been dead for fourteen years.”
“Not the one you knew.”
He stared.
She handed him a file.
Inside was a photograph.
A man Daniel recognized.
His father.
Alive.
Taken six months ago.
Daniel's hands shook.
“That’s impossible.”
“I told you.”
Sabrina sat.
“You've been fighting the wrong war.”
Daniel left the hotel.
Back at home, Maya was waiting.
She had discovered something too.
A bank account in Rose Bennett's name.
Opened two years earlier.
The account had received money from a company owned by Daniel's father.
Daniel stared at the documents.
“My father died before the account was opened.”
Maya nodded.
“Exactly.”
He looked at her.
“What are you trying to tell me?”
“That your father may not have died.”
The room fell silent.
Then Noah walked in.
He was holding the photograph of Elena.
He turned it over.
He had written another sentence.
Mom knew Grandpa was alive.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Everything he'd believed was collapsing.
His father.
Elena.
Rose.
The twins.
Sabrina.
Maya.
May you like
And the worst possibility of all?
Someone had been preparing for this moment long before Daniel knew it was coming.
Related Stories
