Chapter 6 - The Kidnapper Called Vincent by His Childhood NicknameAt 6:17 a.m., the power went out.
Every light in the safe house died.
Owen was already moving.
“Something’s wrong.”
Vincent grabbed Noah.
Elena reached for her phone.
No signal.
Then the smoke alarms activated.
All at once.
Smoke filled the hallway.
“Move!”
Vincent carried Noah toward the emergency exit.
A blast shook the building.
The wall collapsed behind them.
Owen shouted.
“Tunnel!”
They reached the basement.
But the tunnel door would not open.
Someone had sealed it from the outside.
Vincent turned toward Elena.
“Back.”
Gunfire ripped through the basement wall.
Vincent pushed Noah behind a steel cabinet.
Owen returned fire.
Elena crouched beside Noah.
“Stay with me.”
Then the basement door exploded.
Men entered.
Vincent fought.
One.
Two.
Three.
A fourth struck him with the butt of a rifle.
He fell.
“Dad!”
Noah screamed.
Vincent tried to rise.
Another blow.
Darkness.
When he woke, his hands were tied.
A light hung above him.
He was in a warehouse.
Noah was sitting across the room.
Alive.
Elena was nowhere visible.
Vincent's heart hammered.
“Noah.”
The boy looked up.
“I'm okay.”
A man stepped into the light.
Daniel Voss.
“You've made this unnecessarily difficult.”
Vincent stared at him.
“You touch my son—”
“I won't.”
Voss smiled.
“Not unless you refuse.”
Vincent pulled against the restraints.
“What do you want?”
“The archive.”
“You'll never get it.”
Voss sat down.
“You misunderstand.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Elena.
She was tied to a chair.
Vincent's blood froze.
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“You're lying.”
“Probably.”
Noah looked frightened.
Vincent kept his voice calm.
“Don't look at him. Look at me.”
Noah did.
“Remember what I told you.”
“What?”
“Stay brave.”
Voss laughed.
“Sentimental.”
Vincent glared.
“You don't know anything about being a father.”
“No.”
Voss leaned forward.
“But I know how fathers behave.”
He slid a document across the table.
“The trust.”
Vincent looked at it.
“Sign over Noah's inheritance.”
“No.”
“Or Elena dies.”
Vincent remained silent.
Voss waited.
Then he said something that made Vincent’s stomach drop.
“Little Vince.”
Nobody had called him that since he was thirteen.
Vincent stared.
Voss smiled.
“I remember your mother calling you that.”
Vincent's expression changed.
“You were there.”
“Of course.”
“When she died.”
Voss leaned back.
“You're beginning to understand.”
Vincent's voice became cold.
“You killed her.”
“No.”
“Anthony did.”
“No.”
Vincent stopped.
Voss smiled.
“Your grandfather ordered the surveillance.”
“Then who killed her?”
Voss said nothing.
Vincent already knew.
“Rafael.”
A silence.
Voss smiled wider.
“He has always been ambitious.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
Rafael had murdered his mother.
Anthony had covered it up.
Voss had profited.
Hale had orchestrated the laundering operation.
And Elena had been sacrificed because she knew too much.
The truth was finally complete.
Except for one piece.
“What does Marcus Hale want?”
Voss stood.
“That is not my problem.”
“It is now.”
Voss walked away.
Vincent noticed the guard near the door.
A distinctive scar.
He had seen him before.
One of Rafael's men.
Vincent smiled faintly.
“You made one mistake.”
Voss stopped.
“What?”
“You brought Noah here.”
Voss frowned.
Vincent looked at his son.
“You assumed he was helpless.”
Noah looked confused.
Vincent nodded toward the boy's shoes.
“Show me.”
Noah lifted his foot.
A tiny GPS device was hidden beneath the sole.
Owen had planted it.
Vincent smiled.
“Someone is coming.”
Voss swore.
Sirens sounded outside.
Gunfire erupted.
Chaos.
The guards scattered.
Vincent rolled off the chair and attacked the nearest man.
Noah ran.
The warehouse doors exploded open.
Police vehicles surrounded the building.
But Vincent knew immediately something was wrong.
The police were not there to save them.
They were there because someone had leaked the location.
A federal tactical team entered.
At the front was Marcus Hale.
Voss looked relieved.
Vincent understood.
Hale had allowed the rescue.
Because he wanted to eliminate Voss without leaving fingerprints.
“Too late,” Hale said.
Voss stared at him.
“You said you'd protect me.”
“I protected myself.”
Hale raised a gun.
Vincent moved.
The shot struck Voss.
Rafael appeared behind Hale.
“No!”
Everything happened at once.
Owen returned fire.
Rafael shot at Vincent.
Vincent ducked.
Elena appeared from another room.
She was alive.
“Vincent!”
He ran toward her.
They embraced for one second.
Then gunfire forced them apart.
Rafael fled.
Vincent chased.
They reached an upper catwalk.
Rafael pointed his gun.
“You should have stayed away.”
Vincent stared.
“You killed my mother.”
Rafael laughed.
“She was weak.”
“You framed Elena.”
“She was inconvenient.”
“You tried to kill Noah.”
Rafael’s smile disappeared.
“He should never have existed.”
Vincent lunged.
They fought.
The gun fell.
Rafael grabbed Vincent's throat.
“You think you're different from us?”
Vincent slammed him into the railing.
“Yes.”
“You’re a Caruso.”
Vincent stared into his eyes.
“That's the difference.”
He released him.
Rafael fell through the lower platform.
He survived the fall.
Police arrested him.
But Marcus Hale was gone.
And Daniel Voss was dying.
Before the ambulance took him, Voss looked at Vincent.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“Hale never wanted the money.”
Vincent leaned closer.
“He wanted the presidency.”
Vincent froze.
Voss whispered,
“He has been buying judges, senators, governors…”
Then he smiled weakly.
“He wants to own the country.”
The ambulance doors closed.
Vincent turned toward Elena.
Noah stood between them.
Vincent knelt.
“You okay?”
Noah nodded.
“Are we going home?”
Vincent looked at Elena.
She nodded.
“Yes.”
“For the first time,” Vincent said, “we are.”
But Marcus Hale was already watching the broadcast from a hidden room.
On the screen appeared Vincent's face.
Hale smiled.
“Let him think he won.”
Then he picked up a folder.
Inside were photographs of Elena.
Noah.
Vincent.
And one more person.
Sophia Caruso.
May you like
Hale whispered,
“Phase three begins tonight.”
Related Stories
