Chapter 7 - The Hostage
Panic, cold and sharp, pierced through Dominic's chest.
He leaned into the empty backseat, finding only Sofia's battered stuffed rabbit lying on the floorboards.
Someone had snatched them while he was fighting on the staircase.
He sprinted to the edge of the parking garage and looked down at the street below.
A black sedan was speeding away into the rain, its taillights bleeding into the darkness.
Dominic raised the stolen assault rifle, aiming down the sights at the tires.
He slowly lowered the weapon, knowing he could not risk hitting Elena or the child.
His phone vibrated violently in his pocket.
He pulled it out, answering the blocked number without saying a word.
"You always were too predictable, Dominic," a smooth, arrogant voice echoed through the speaker.
It was a voice Dominic had not heard in four years.
It was the voice of his father's supposedly dead consigliere, Arthur Vance.
"Arthur," Dominic growled, his grip tightening on the phone until the plastic cracked.
"I should have known a rat like you would survive the explosion."
Arthur laughed, a dry, humorless sound that chilled the air.
"I survived because I planted the bomb, you arrogant fool."
"Your father was losing his mind, leaving his fortune to a bastard child born to a housekeeper."
Dominic stared at the stuffed rabbit in his hand, his blood boiling with pure rage.
"If you harm one hair on that little girl's head, I will burn your skin off."
"I don't want to hurt the child, Dominic."
"I simply want the master ledger that controls all the offshore accounts."
"Bring the ledger to the old docks at Pier 39 in exactly one hour."
"Come alone, or the mother and the sister die together."
The call ended abruptly with a sharp click.
Dominic stood alone in the cold concrete garage, his mind racing through impossible options.
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He did not have the master ledger; his father had hidden it before he died.
He had exactly sixty minutes to find the most guarded secret in the criminal underworld.
