Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN SEBASTIAN DIDN’T EXPECT
Sebastian Vale chose an abandoned Catholic school in South Boston.
“Subtle,” Elena muttered.
Damian checked the magazine of his handgun.
She stared at it.
“I thought billionaires had people for that.”
“I’m not going inside with people.”
“You said that was stupid when they asked you to come alone.”
“It is.”
“And yet?”
“I’m allowed to be stupid selectively.”
Elena wanted to argue.
Instead she grabbed his sleeve.
“Bring Arthur back.”
Damian looked down at her hand.
Then at her face.
“I will.”
“Promise?”
Something softened in him.
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
It wasn't.
And somehow she respected him more for it.
Damian entered through the front.
Elena was supposed to remain in the armored SUV.
She lasted six minutes.
Then her phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
COME TO THE GYM.
ALONE.
SHE KNOWS.
Elena stared at the final words.
She knows.
Not he.
She slipped out of the vehicle.
The abandoned school smelled of damp plaster and old wood.
She followed faded signs toward the gymnasium.
The doors were open.
Arthur sat in his wheelchair at center court.
Alive.
Behind him stood a woman in a cream coat.
Dr. Evelyn Price.
Director of St. Vincent’s.
Elena stopped.
“Dr. Price?”
The older woman smiled.
“Elena.”
Pieces rearranged themselves instantly.
The medication protocols.
Security access.
Arthur being removed from a facility protected by Vale guards.
“You were helping Lowell.”
“He was helping me.”
“Where’s Sebastian?”
Evelyn smiled.
“Still blamed for everything, apparently.”
Elena’s chest tightened.
Arthur’s eyes were frantic.
He shook his head almost imperceptibly.
Evelyn noticed.
“Oh, Arthur. After all these years, still trying to control the room.”
Footsteps sounded behind Elena.
Sebastian Vale entered.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
Unarmed.
And bleeding from the forehead.
“You.”
Evelyn’s expression changed.
Sebastian looked at Elena.
“Get Arthur out.”
Elena stared between them.
“You killed my father.”
Sebastian’s face went pale.
“No.”
“The accounts—”
“I stole money.”
The admission stunned her.
Sebastian laughed bitterly.
“I was thirty-two and stupid. I stole from Arthur. Daniel caught me.”
“So you killed him.”
“No.”
Evelyn spoke softly behind them.
“I did.”
Elena turned.
Evelyn was holding a pistol.
Arthur closed his eyes.
“I loved Arthur,” Evelyn said.
Sebastian’s face twisted.
“You were obsessed with him.”
“He chose his empire. His wife. His precious rules. Daniel was going to expose everything Sebastian had stolen, and Arthur would have destroyed the family to prove some moral point.”
“So you killed my father to protect the Vales?”
“To protect Arthur.”
Elena’s eyes burned.
“You murdered a man with a nine-year-old daughter.”
Evelyn’s smile disappeared.
“He should have considered that.”
A gunshot exploded.
Elena screamed.
Sebastian collapsed.
Damian appeared in the doorway.
Evelyn swung the weapon.
Damian fired first.
Her gun flew across the floor.
Three of Damian’s men rushed in.
He crossed the gym toward Arthur.
“Dad.”
Arthur lifted his hand.
Not toward Damian.
Toward Elena.
She walked to him.
His fingers closed weakly around hers.
“I’m here.”
Arthur’s lips trembled.
Then the impossible happened.
“Sorry.”
The word was rough.
Broken.
But clear.
Elena’s eyes filled.
Arthur struggled.
“Daniel.”
She knelt.
“You tried to protect him?”
Arthur nodded.
“Too… late.”
Elena wanted to hate him.
For the secrets.
For the world her father had entered because of him.
But she saw an old man who had carried one failure for eighteen years.
She squeezed his hand.
“We finish it now.”
Across the gym, Damian stared at her.
Not like a nurse.
Not like a problem.
May you like
Like something far more dangerous.
Something he could lose.
