Chapter 6 - The Mother Who Never Came HomeNuler could barely breathe.
"She's alive?"
Declan tilted his head.
"She was alive after the fire."
"Where is she?"
"That depends on how cooperative you decide to be."
Andrew spoke sharply.
"Leave her out of this."
Declan laughed.
"Still protecting the maid? You always were sentimental beneath those expensive suits."
Andrew stared at him.
"You've been stealing from me."
"Of course."
"Using my warehouses."
"Naturally."
"Paying officers to cover your operations."
Declan shrugged.
"Someone had to keep the business profitable."
Andrew's expression hardened.
"You ordered the shooting in November."
Declan's smile widened.
"I wondered when you'd figure that out."
Nuler looked at Andrew.
His wounded shoulder had been no accident.
Declan had tried to kill him months earlier.
And she had unknowingly saved his life.
"Why didn't you finish it?" Andrew asked.
"Because dead men become martyrs. I wanted your people to watch you fail first."
Declan approached the open archive box.
"Now hand over the letter."
Andrew remained still.
"Let Nuler leave."
"Absolutely not."
A sudden metallic crash came from the loading dock.
One of Declan's men turned.
Michael Reeves's voice echoed through the building.
"Police! Weapons down!"
Declan cursed.
Andrew seized Nuler's hand.
"Run!"
They rushed through a side door as shouting erupted behind them.
A gunshot struck the wall.
Andrew pushed Nuler into a narrow service corridor.
They reached an exterior staircase and descended toward the river.
Nuler stumbled on the final step.
Andrew caught her.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Keep moving."
A dark vehicle waited beside the dock.
Michael was behind the wheel.
They climbed inside.
As the vehicle sped away, Nuler looked back.
Declan stood beneath the warehouse lights, watching them escape.
He raised his phone.
Then smiled.
Twenty minutes later, Andrew received a video message.
Thomas Turner sat tied to a chair inside an unfamiliar room.
His face was bruised.
Declan's voice spoke from behind the camera.
"You have forty-eight hours, Andrew. Bring me everything Margaret left behind, or the old man dies."
Nuler began crying.
Andrew watched the video twice.
Then called Michael.
"Find the location."
Michael nodded.
"I'm already working on it."
Nuler looked at Andrew.
"He's going to kill him."
"Not if we get there first."
She shook her head.
"You don't understand. Thomas raised me. He taught me how to ride a bicycle. He stayed awake when I was sick. He worked two jobs so I could finish school."
Andrew took her hand.
"I understand."
"No, you don't."
His expression changed.
"My father was murdered when I was seventeen. For twenty years, I believed I knew why. Tonight I learned that almost everything I was told was a lie."
Nuler looked down.
"I'm sorry."
Andrew shook his head.
"Don't apologize."
He paused.
"Thomas is your father in every way that matters. And we're going to bring him home."
For the first time since the attack, Nuler believed him.
Then Michael entered the room holding a recovered security file.
"Andrew. We found something."
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Margaret Vale leaving a private medical facility.
The photograph was dated only three years earlier.
Nuler stared.
May you like
Her mother had survived.
And someone had been keeping her hidden.
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