Chapter 7 - The Price of a Daughter
Michael looked nothing like a monster.
That frightened Joan more.
He was silver-haired, elegantly dressed, and calm enough to straighten his cuff while holding a gun.
“Walk.”
Joan obeyed.
He guided her through a service corridor while the estate’s security focused on the fire.
“You planned this.”
“I helped design this house.”
They reached a rear entrance.
A car waited.
Joan stopped.
“You’re not getting Betty.”
Michael smiled.
“I don’t need Betty anymore.”
Understanding arrived slowly.
“You need me.”
“You’re Roman’s newest weakness.”
Joan almost laughed.
“You’ve seriously misunderstood our relationship.”
“Have I?”
He forced her into the vehicle.
By the time Roman discovered she was missing, Michael was already miles away.
Joan was taken to an abandoned greenhouse.
It seemed like an odd choice until she saw the dead vines and shattered planting beds.
Caroline’s old community garden.
Michael wanted Roman to understand the symbolism.
“You hated her,” Joan said.
“No. Caroline was intelligent.”
“You murdered her.”
“She became inconvenient.”
The casualness of the statement chilled Joan.
Michael’s phone rang.
Roman.
Michael answered on video.
Roman’s face filled the screen.
“Let her go.”
Michael smiled.
“Bring me Victor’s flash drive.”
“No.”
Michael pointed the gun toward Joan.
“Then perhaps you’ve decided this waitress is replaceable.”
Roman’s expression changed.
Joan had never seen a man become so frightening while remaining completely still.
“She has a name.”
Michael smiled.
“Oh?”
“Joan.”
Roman leaned closer to the camera.
“And if you touch her, there will be no corner of this world where you can hide from the consequences.”
Michael laughed.
“Midnight. The old greenhouse.”
The call ended.
Joan looked at him.
“You’re not leaving here.”
“Roman will bring the drive.”
“No.”
“You sound confident.”
“Because you still think Roman is the man you raised.”
Michael’s smile disappeared slightly.
“He is.”
“No. Caroline changed him. Betty changed him.”
Joan leaned forward.
“And losing them changed him most.”
For the first time, Michael looked angry.
At 11:58, headlights appeared.
Roman walked into the greenhouse alone.
He held the flash drive.
Michael pushed Joan forward.
“Put it down.”
Roman did.
“Kick it over.”
He obeyed.
Michael picked it up.
Joan saw the mistake immediately.
Roman had come too easily.
Michael saw it a second later.
Police lights exploded outside.
Michael grabbed Joan.
The gun pressed against her temple.
“Back!”
Roman stopped.
Federal agents surrounded the greenhouse.
Michael dragged Joan toward the rear exit.
Then Joan remembered the restaurant.
She had survived because she moved before fear could stop her.
She drove her heel down onto Michael’s foot and threw herself sideways.
The gun fired.
Roman lunged.
Glass shattered.
Michael fell.
Agents flooded the greenhouse.
For several seconds Joan could hear nothing but ringing.
Then Roman was beside her.
“Joan.”
She touched herself.
No blood.
The bullet had missed.
Roman pulled her against him.
His hands shook.
That surprised her more than anything.
“I’m okay.”
He did not release her.
“You’re shaking.”
“So are you.”
“I was kidnapped. I have an excuse.”
A strange sound escaped him.
Half laugh.
Half sob.
Michael was arrested alive.
By dawn, prosecutors had enough evidence from Victor’s files, Caroline’s notebook, and Michael’s own recorded statements to pursue charges connected to the criminal operation and Caroline’s death.
The nightmare should have been over.
But when Joan returned to the estate, Betty ran down the stairs and stopped suddenly.
She stared at Joan.
Then Roman.
Then their joined hands.
Neither adult had noticed they were still holding each other.
Betty smiled.
A huge, delighted smile.
Roman released Joan immediately.
Too late.
“I knew it,” Betty announced.
Joan blinked.
“Knew what?”
Betty crossed her arms.
“You like Daddy.”
Roman coughed.
Joan’s face burned.
“Go to bed, Betty.”
“It’s morning.”
“Then go have breakfast.”
Betty skipped away laughing.
Joan looked at Roman.
May you like
He looked at her.
And for the first time since the Silver Oak attack, the danger between them had absolutely nothing to do with guns.
