Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Before Dawn
Walter Preston disappeared at 4:17 a.m.
By 4:26, Simon had every private security contact he possessed searching Philadelphia.
Abigail stood in his study wearing Simon’s jacket over yesterday’s clothes.
“He took my mother’s voice.”
Simon looked at her.
“We copied the recording.”
“That isn’t the point.”
He knew.
The recorder had been Margaret’s final message.
Walter had stolen something emotionally irreplaceable.
At 5:03, Simon’s phone rang.
Edward Wexler.
Simon answered.
“Where is Walter?”
His uncle laughed softly.
“Good morning to you too.”
Abigail watched Simon’s face become stone.
Edward continued.
“Walter came to me voluntarily.”
“Then he can voluntarily come back.”
“I’m afraid Walter has created complications.”
“What do you want?”
“Margaret Preston’s documents.”
Simon glanced at Abigail.
“No.”
“Then Walter may have a very unfortunate morning.”
Abigail whispered, “Put it on speaker.”
Simon did.
“Edward,” she said.
Silence.
Then: “Abigail. My beautiful new niece.”
“You paid my father.”
“I helped him.”
“You used him.”
“Those are often the same thing.”
Abigail’s hands curled into fists.
“What do you want with my mother’s records?”
“Sentimentality makes people reckless.”
“You killed Simon’s father.”
Edward stopped laughing.
Simon looked at Abigail.
She had deliberately provoked him.
Edward answered carefully.
“Be very cautious about accusations.”
“Or what?”
“Ask your husband.”
The call ended.
Simon stared at her.
“That was reckless.”
“It worked.”
“How?”
“He got defensive.”
“He could also have ordered someone to kill Walter.”
Abigail’s expression hardened.
“You think I don’t know that?”
Simon stopped.
She was angry, terrified, exhausted—and refusing to collapse.
He recognized something in her.
Strength born not from fearlessness, but from surviving fear repeatedly.
Marcus entered.
“We traced the call.”
An abandoned cold-storage facility near Pier 38.
Simon grabbed his coat.
Abigail followed.
“No.”
She kept walking.
“Simon.”
“You’re staying here.”
“My father is there.”
“That’s precisely why.”
She stepped directly into his path.
“You married the wrong woman if you expected obedience.”
Despite everything, Marcus looked mildly entertained.
Simon glared at him.
Marcus immediately studied the wall.
Twenty-five minutes later, Abigail was inside the armored SUV beside Simon.
“You realize this does not establish precedent,” he said.
“For what?”
“Winning arguments.”
“I didn’t realize you were keeping score.”
“I keep score of everything.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
He looked at her.
She looked back.
Then, impossibly, Simon smiled.
It disappeared quickly.
But Abigail saw it.
The warehouse was empty.
Almost.
Walter sat tied to a chair beneath a hanging light.
Alive.
Abigail ran toward him.
Simon caught her.
“Wait.”
Marcus searched the room.
“Clear.”
They approached.
Walter lifted his head.
“Abby.”
His face was bruised.
She knelt.
“Where’s Edward?”
“Gone.”
Simon cut the restraints.
Walter grabbed his arm.
“It’s a trap.”
An explosion shook the building.
Windows shattered.
Simon threw Abigail behind a concrete barrier as flames erupted near the entrance.
“Back exit!” Marcus shouted.
Smoke swallowed the warehouse.
Abigail coughed.
Simon held her hand.
“Stay with me.”
They moved through darkness.
Walter stumbled behind them.
Another blast shook the floor.
A steel beam crashed down.
Walter shoved Abigail forward.
The beam struck him.
“Dad!”
She turned.
Simon grabbed her.
Walter was pinned.
Flames spread behind him.
Abigail fought Simon’s grip.
“We have to get him!”
Simon and Marcus rushed back.
Together they lifted the beam enough for Walter to crawl free.
Outside, Walter collapsed.
Paramedics loaded him into an ambulance.
Before the doors closed, he caught Abigail’s hand.
“I’m sorry.”
She stared at him.
“For which part?”
His eyes filled.
“All of it.”
Then he pressed something into her palm.
Her mother’s recorder.
Abigail broke.
She leaned forward and hugged him.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
But not goodbye either.
Simon watched.
Hours later, after Walter was stabilized, Abigail sat beside Simon in the hospital corridor.
“You saved him.”
“So did Marcus.”
“You went back.”
Simon looked at her.
“He’s your father.”
“That didn’t answer me.”
He sighed.
“I went back because losing him would hurt you.”
Abigail’s eyes softened.
Simon immediately regretted being honest.
Then she rested her head against his shoulder.
He became perfectly still.
“You can breathe,” she murmured.
“I am breathing.”
“Barely.”
Simon slowly relaxed.
Her hand found his.
This time neither pretended it was accidental.
Across the hallway, Marcus received a message.
His face changed.
“Simon.”
“What?”
“We found Edward.”
“Where?”
“Wexler Maritime headquarters.”
Simon frowned.
Marcus turned the phone around.
Security footage showed Edward entering the building with several armed men.
Then another camera.
Then another.
“They’re taking the executive floor.”
Simon stood.
Marcus continued.
“And Edward just filed an emergency board motion declaring you mentally unfit to control the company.”
May you like
Simon’s eyes hardened.
The war had finally stopped hiding.
