Chapter 1 - The Ghost in the Machine
The name hung in the chilled air of the great room.
Gabriel Vale had died in a fiery car crash six years ago.
Dominic had identified the ashes himself.
Yet the security logs on the glowing tablet did not lie.
Vincent stared at the screen in absolute disbelief.
"That is impossible."
Dominic did not answer immediately.
He looked down at the tiny, dark object Vincent held in the handkerchief.
"Take that to the lab right now."
Clare tightened her grip on Ellie's small hand.
"Mr. Vale, I really need to take my daughter home."
Dominic turned his cold gaze toward her.
"Nobody is leaving this estate."
Clare felt a cold spike of panic pierce her chest.
"We have nothing to do with this."
"Your daughter just dismantled a murder weapon, Clare."
Vincent stepped forward with a grim expression.
"He is right."
"Whoever planted this knows the girl saw it."
"If you walk out those doors, you are both dead by nightfall."
Clare looked at her innocent four-year-old playing with her wooden toy.
She had tried so hard to stay invisible for three years.
Now they were trapped in a billionaire's war.
Suddenly, a sharp beep echoed from Vincent's hand.
The tiny object in the handkerchief had begun flashing a rapid red light.
Vincent dropped it onto the marble floor.
"It has a remote receiver."
Dominic tried to take a step backward.
His injured leg completely gave out beneath him.
He crashed heavily onto the polished floor.
"Boss!"
Vincent rushed to his side.
Dominic's breathing became rapidly shallow.
His veins began turning a sickly, dark shade of purple.
"The object wasn't just a tracker," Dominic gasped.
"It was a micro-pump."
He looked up at Vincent with fading eyes.
"And someone just triggered the fatal dose."
Vincent frantically tore the rest of the brace away from Dominic's leg.
A tiny needle was still embedded deep in Dominic's calf muscle.
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The flashing red light on the floor turned a solid, continuous crimson.
Dominic's eyes rolled backward as a violent seizure took hold of his body.
