Chapter 4 - THE HOUSE WITH NO SAFE ROOM
We escaped through a tunnel beneath the mansion.
Dominic walked behind us with a pistol in one hand and his other hand resting against Marcus's shoulder.
It was the strangest sight I'd ever seen.
A man whose name terrified half the city was walking through a dark underground passage beside a little boy carrying a plastic dinosaur.
When we reached the exit, Dominic's driver was waiting.
Or so we thought.
The driver's seat was empty.
The engine was running.
Dominic stopped.
“No.”
He raised his weapon.
The headlights suddenly switched off.
A man stepped from behind the vehicle.
Dominic fired once.
The man dropped.
I screamed.
“Stay behind me,” Dominic ordered.
He approached the body.
Then stopped.
The dead man was wearing Dominic's security uniform.
But he wasn't one of Dominic's guards.
A fake uniform.
A planted identity.
Dominic searched him and found three things.
A key.
A photograph.
And a hospital bracelet.
The bracelet belonged to a woman named Claire Vale.
Dominic stared at it for several seconds.
“She was alive.”
We abandoned the vehicle and reached a small safehouse outside the city.
Dominic didn't sleep.
Neither did I.
Marcus eventually fell asleep with his head against my lap.
At three in the morning, Dominic sat across from me.
“I owe you an apology.”
I almost laughed.
“You owe me more than that.”
“I know.”
“You brought us into this.”
“No.”
His eyes shifted toward Marcus.
“Victor did.”
I looked at him.
“Why do you care so much?”
Dominic was silent.
Then he answered.
“Because your son saved my life.”
“That doesn't explain everything.”
“No.”
He looked at Marcus.
“When I was young, my father told me something.”
“What?”
“Power doesn't make you safe. It only makes people more creative when they want to hurt you.”
He rubbed his hands together.
“I forgot that.”
Morning came with another surprise.
Marcus woke up and immediately pointed toward the television.
“That's him.”
The screen showed an old news report.
Three years earlier.
The explosion.
Dominic's damaged car.
A reporter standing outside a hospital.
And behind her, barely visible for two seconds, was Claire.
Alive.
I looked at Dominic.
He was already standing.
“Pause it.”
The image froze.
Claire was looking directly toward the camera.
But Dominic noticed something else.
Her hand.
She was holding a small object.
A red plastic toy.
Marcus's toy.
I stared at my son.
His toy had been with him for years.
Dominic looked at me.
“Where did he get that?”
“My sister gave it to him when he was born.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“Your sister?”
I nodded.
“My sister worked at the hospital where you were treated.”
He stood completely still.
“What was her name?”
“Rachel.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“Rachel worked in my case.”
I felt sick.
“What are you saying?”
“Your son may not have discovered the device by accident.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Dominic walked toward the television.
“Someone may have known he could detect it.”
“That's impossible.”
“Maybe.”
He turned toward me.
“Or maybe somebody has been watching your family for much longer than either of us realized.”
Before I could respond, the safehouse door opened.
Claire Vale stood outside.
Older.
Paler.
Alive.
And holding a gun.
“Dominic,” she said.
He stared at her.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
Claire looked at Marcus.
Then at me.
“I know.”
May you like
Her eyes filled with tears.
“But if you want to know who destroyed your life, we don't have much time.”
