Chapter 4 - The Ransom of Blood
I scrambled away from Hale's bleeding body as panic seized my chest.
The police sirens were growing louder, echoing off the concrete canyons of the city.
I wiped the blood from my face and sprinted back toward the service elevator.
My heart hammered against my ribs as the elevator slowly descended to the basement level.
I burst out into the cool night air and sprinted the two blocks to the parking garage.
When I reached the dark corner where I had left the car, my world stopped spinning.
The driver's side door was wide open, and the window was completely shattered.
"Noah!" I screamed, my voice echoing off the concrete walls.
I ran to the car and found Noah unconscious on the ground, bleeding from a nasty head wound.
The backseat was entirely empty.
Lily was gone.
My knees buckled, and I collapsed beside Noah, shaking him awake.
"Mr. Carter," Noah groaned, clutching his bleeding forehead.
"Where is my daughter?" I yelled, tears blurring my vision.
"Vanessa," he whispered weakly.
"She had a gun," he added, coughing softly.
My own ex-wife had tracked us down and stolen my baby.
Suddenly, my cell phone rang with a restricted caller ID.
I answered it immediately, my hands trembling with violent rage.
"Hello, Daniel," Vanessa's cold voice purred through the speaker.
"If you hurt one hair on Lily's head, I will end you," I snarled.
"She is perfectly safe for now," Vanessa replied calmly.
"What do you want?" I demanded, pacing the oily garage floor.
"Bring Claire's original shares and the genetic patent documents to the abandoned shipyard," she ordered.
"You have one hour, or your daughter goes into the ocean," she threatened.
"I don't have the patent documents!" I yelled in desperation.
"Then you better find them, little brother," she sneered.
She hung up, leaving me listening to the dead dial tone.
I had a murder charge hanging over my head and a ticking clock to save my child.
I reached into the hidden compartment of my bag where I kept a loaded pistol.
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I was done running from these monsters.
When I got to that shipyard, I was going to burn their entire conspiracy to the ground.
