Chapter 7 - The Hostage Video
The digital screen illuminated the absolute terror in my beautiful wife's eyes.
Caroline looked older, paler, but she was undeniably the woman I had fiercely loved and mourned for five years.
"Hello, Grant," Daniel sneered through the phone's tiny speaker, pressing the sharp blade slightly closer to her skin.
"I am incredibly impressed you managed to survive the night with your new vision."
"If you hurt a single hair on her head, I will tear you apart with my bare hands," I promised him, my voice completely devoid of mercy.
"Big threats from a man who is currently standing on an abandoned pier in Brooklyn," Daniel laughed arrogantly.
He had clearly tracked the GPS signal from Dr. Hale's encrypted phone.
"I want you to bring the good doctor to the old shipping warehouse at Pier 17 in exactly thirty minutes," Daniel demanded.
"Come alone, or I will personally slit her throat and send you the recorded video."
The video feed abruptly cut to black, leaving me staring at my own enraged reflection on the dark screen.
Pier 17 was the exact same location where the tragic explosion had supposedly killed my family five years ago.
Daniel was orchestrating a deeply poetic, twisted finale to his massive betrayal.
"I have to go there alone," I said, turning to look at Hannah and the terrified child clinging to her leg.
"You cannot face an entire army by yourself," Hannah argued desperately, grabbing my arm.
"He is expecting a blind, desperate man, but he is going to get a fully sighted monster," I replied coldly.
I handed Hannah a thick stack of cash and a spare set of car keys I kept hidden in the boat.
"Take my emergency vehicle from the lockbox down the street and drive as far away as you possibly can," I instructed her.
Hannah hesitated, tears welling up rapidly in her dark, expressive eyes.
"You saved my life today, Hannah, now let me save my family," I told her softly.
She nodded bravely, picked up Lucy, and ran quickly into the dark, foggy city streets.
I grabbed Dr. Hale by his collar and hauled him violently to his feet.
"Walk," I commanded, pushing him roughly toward a stolen sedan parked near the docks.
We drove through the deserted city in complete, suffocating silence, the tension growing thicker with every passing mile.
I finally pulled up to the massive, rusted gates of Pier 17, the rain beginning to fall in heavy, freezing sheets.
I stepped out of the car, dragging a terrified Hale beside me into the dark, cavernous warehouse.
Dozens of laser sights instantly locked onto my chest from the high catwalks above.
Daniel stepped out from the deep shadows, holding a chained, weeping Caroline firmly in front of him.
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"You actually showed up," Daniel smiled, but then his smug expression vanished instantly as he looked past my shoulder.
Hannah was standing directly behind me in the doorway, holding a massive, fully armed assault rifle aimed perfectly at Daniel's head.
