Chapter 4 - The Ransom Demand
Norah stared at the horrifying photograph on her cracked phone screen.
Her vision immediately blurred with angry, terrified tears.
"They have Lily," she choked out, turning the illuminated screen toward Dominic.
Dominic studied the image for exactly two seconds before looking away.
His face remained a perfectly blank mask, betraying absolutely no emotion.
"It is an obvious trap," he stated coldly, standing back up.
"Miller knows you will try to play the hero and come running."
Norah scrambled to her feet, wiping her eyes with the back of her damp sleeve.
"I have to go to those docks right now."
"They will murder her, Dominic."
Dominic stepped smoothly between Norah and the locked steel door.
"If you go to those docks tonight, you will be dead before you even see the girl."
"And without you, I have absolutely no leverage to expose the Senator's corruption."
Norah shoved him hard in the chest, though it felt exactly like pushing a solid brick wall.
"I do not care about your leverage or your mafia war!"
"She is nineteen years old and completely innocent!"
"She is only in this mess because I tried to protect her from your fiancée."
Dominic caught her wrists, his grip incredibly firm but strangely gentle.
"You cannot save her by walking blindly into a police firing squad, Norah."
"You are a waitress, not a trained soldier."
Norah stopped struggling and glared at him with burning, furious intensity.
"My mother died because she let powerful people step on her just to keep the peace."
"I promised myself a long time ago that I would never do that."
"I am going to get her."
She yanked her wrists free and reached determinedly for the heavy deadbolt on the door.
Dominic watched her, a strange flicker of genuine respect finally crossing his hardened features.
He had spent his entire life surrounded by men who claimed they were brave but ran at the first sign of real danger.
This exhausted woman with an overdue heating bill was entirely willing to trade her life for a friend.
"Stop," Dominic commanded quietly.
Norah ignored him entirely and pulled the heavy lock open.
Dominic drew his gun and racked the slide with a loud, metallic clack.
"I said stop, Norah."
She turned around, fully expecting him to shoot her to protect his own selfish interests.
Instead, Dominic walked right past her and kicked the door open himself.
"If we are going to walk into a police ambush, we are not doing it through the front door."
"I know a hidden smuggling tunnel that runs directly beneath the docks."
He handed her a spare, fully loaded magazine from his jacket pocket.
"Keep this somewhere safe."
"We have exactly one hour before Detective Miller loses his patience and kills her anyway."
They slipped out into the raging storm, heading toward the darkest, most dangerous part of the city.
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What neither of them knew was that Detective Miller was already dead.
And the man currently holding Lily was not working for the Senator at all.
