Chapter 8 - The Price of Taking Her
Vivian disappeared at 6:20 on a Thursday evening.
Her security vehicle was found abandoned beneath a parking structure.
The driver was unconscious but alive.
Vivian’s phone lay crushed beneath a tire.
When Gideon received the call, something ancient and violent awakened inside him.
Then he remembered her words.
If you lose control, he wins.
So Gideon did the hardest thing he had ever done.
He did not go hunting.
He called the FBI.
He gave them everything.
Every private contact.
Every warehouse.
Every safe property.
Every unofficial route he knew.
Then he sat inside the command center and waited.
Raymond called at 9:03.
“Gideon.”
“Let me speak to her.”
“You don’t give orders anymore.”
“Raymond.”
“Funny, isn’t it? The great Gideon Mercer finally learned humility when nobody cares.”
A sound.
Then Vivian’s voice.
“I’m okay.”
Gideon shut his eyes.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
Raymond returned.
“The ledger for Vivian.”
“The government has copies.”
“I want the original.”
“It won’t save you.”
“It might save her.”
Gideon looked toward the agents.
They were tracing.
“Where?”
Raymond gave instructions.
A freight terminal near the lake.
Midnight.
Alone.
The FBI objected.
Gideon went anyway—with their plan.
At 11:58, he entered the warehouse carrying the waterproof case.
Vivian sat tied to a chair.
Raymond stood behind her with a gun.
Gideon stopped.
“Let her go.”
Raymond laughed.
“You know what your problem always was?”
“I assume you’re going to tell me.”
“You thought being the most dangerous man in the room made you the smartest.”
Gideon looked at Vivian.
She was frightened.
But alert.
Her right hand was working against the plastic restraint.
“You killed Nathan,” Gideon said.
Raymond’s smile faded.
“He gave me no choice.”
The words echoed through Gideon’s concealed transmitter.
“You always have a choice.”
“Spare me the morality. You cheated on the only woman who ever loved you.”
Gideon flinched.
Raymond smiled again.
“That one still hurts.”
“Yes.”
Raymond had expected denial.
Gideon gave him none.
“I betrayed Vivian. I ignored Nathan. I let pride make decisions that hurt everyone around me.”
Vivian stopped moving.
Gideon continued.
“But those were my choices.”
His eyes locked on Raymond.
“Nathan was yours.”
Raymond raised the gun.
“Give me the ledger.”
Gideon placed it on the floor.
Raymond stepped forward.
That was the moment Vivian had been waiting for.
Her hand came free.
She drove the chair backward into Raymond’s knees.
The gun fired.
Gideon lunged.
The bullet struck his shoulder.
Federal agents stormed the warehouse.
Raymond was tackled before he reached the weapon.
Vivian dropped beside Gideon.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“No. No, stay with me.”
His face tightened with pain.
“You’re okay?”
“I’m not the one who got shot!”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Despite everything, she laughed through tears.
“You idiot.”
His eyes fluttered.
“Vivian.”
“I’m here.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Save your strength.”
“For all of it.”
Her hand pressed against the wound.
“You’re not dying before you finish making amends.”
His mouth moved into the faintest smile.
“Bossy.”
“Shut up.”
Paramedics rushed in.
As they lifted him onto the stretcher, Gideon caught her fingers.
Vivian did not pull away.
Raymond Shaw was charged with kidnapping, financial crimes, arson, conspiracy, and Nathan Mercer’s murder after additional forensic evidence connected him to the marina.
The Mercer scandal dominated headlines for weeks.
But another story slowly replaced it.
Gideon Mercer testified.
He admitted the affairs.
The omissions.
The arrogance.
He did not blame Raymond for his personal failures.
He did not blame Vivian.
He did not ask the public to forgive him.
Then he walked away from Mercer Global.
Not temporarily.
Permanently.
Three weeks later, Vivian entered his hospital room carrying a paper bag.
Gideon looked suspiciously at it.
“What is that?”
“Dinner.”
“You brought me hospital food?”
“Worse.”
She removed a cheeseburger from the diner where they had investigated Raymond.
Gideon smiled.
Vivian sat beside him.
For several minutes, neither mentioned marriage.
Then Gideon noticed something.
Her wedding ring was still gone.
He looked away before she could catch him staring.
She caught him anyway.
“We’re not fixed,” she said.
“I know.”
“I still might divorce you.”
“I know.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“I know.”
She studied him.
“Stop saying that.”
He almost laughed.
“What should I say?”
“The truth.”
Gideon looked at her.
“I love you.”
Vivian’s eyes filled.
“But,” he added, “that doesn’t mean you owe me another chance.”
For the first time since the ballroom, Vivian reached across the space between them.
She took his hand.
Not forgiveness.
May you like
Not yet.
But not goodbye either.
