Chapter 11 - Eleven Forty-Seven

We got back to the estate at 11:31.

The front gate guard was unconscious. Kevin Sloan was missing. So was Ethan.

Sophia had blood on her temple.

"He came through the pantry," she said. "Sloan. He told Ethan you were hurt. I tried to stop him."

Her voice broke.

Lily clung to her leg, sobbing.

I wanted to rage at Sophia for losing him.

I wanted someone to blame because blame was easier than terror.

Then I saw the bruise forming across her face and swallowed every cruel word.

"You fought him?"

"Of course I fought him."

That was Sophia.

Quinn checked traffic cameras while Vincent tracked the estate SUV Sloan had stolen. The vehicle stopped transmitting near the river warehouses.

My warehouses.

"Frank's taking him to Pier Nine," Luca said.

"How do you know?"

"Dad used to keep an office there nobody knew about. Frank did too."

We moved.

At 11:47, I entered Pier Nine through an old loading corridor with Luca, Vincent, and two detectives behind us.

The warehouse smelled like wet wood and diesel.

A light burned on the second-floor catwalk.

"Dad?"

Ethan's voice.

I nearly broke cover.

Quinn caught my coat. "If you charge in, you give them two targets."

A speaker crackled overhead.

Frank's voice filled the warehouse.

"Dominic. Twelve minutes until midnight."

I looked up.

Frank stood on the catwalk with one hand on Ethan's shoulder.

Dr. Harris stood beside him.

Sloan guarded the stairs.

"Let him go," I said.

"You know what I want."

"The trust key."

Frank smiled. "Smart boy. Elena always said you were smarter than your father. She meant it as an insult to him."

"You killed her."

His smile faded.

"She forced a choice."

Ethan looked down at me. He was trying not to cry.

"Dad, I'm okay."

That nearly destroyed me.

Frank held out a phone. "At midnight, the trust sends you a code. You give it to me, Ethan walks away."

"And if I don't?"

Frank looked at my son.

The answer was obvious.

Then Lily's voice came through my own phone on speaker. Sophia had called without realizing it.

"Mommy," Lily whispered, "the cake man isn't the doctor."

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Frank's head snapped toward the sound.

And Arthur Vale stepped from the shadows behind him.