Chapter 4 - The Vanishing Mistress
Nora moved to the edge of the front window, keeping behind the heavy velvet drapes, and peered down at the sunlit sidewalk of Marlborough Street.
Two black Cadillac Escalades were parked bumper-to-bumper across the street, their engines idling, exhaust curling into the brisk autumn air. Standing beside the rear passenger door was Julian Vance. He wasn't wearing a tactical jacket anymore. He had slipped on an impeccable cashmere topcoat, a pair of dark designer sunglasses shielding his eyes.
Between two towering men in identical dark suits stood Elise.
Her ivory maternity dress was torn at the hem, her blonde hair whipped violently by the wind. One of the men had a thick hand wrapped firmly around the back of her neck, forcing her head down as she sobbed hysterically.
""Elise,"" Dominic breathed, his knuckles whitening on the windowsill.
Julian looked up toward the third-floor windows, lifted a leather-gloved hand, and tapped his watch. Then, he held his phone to his ear.
On the speakerphone behind Nora, Julian’s voice purred. ""I have the girl, Dominic. And more importantly, I have your future heir. It really was quite sloppy of your little assistant to use a public cab service outside the bakery. My men were waiting at the corner.""
""Julian, let her go,"" Dominic said, his voice deadly low. ""She doesn't know anything about the encryption keys. She just made copies of the ledgers. You have what you want.""
""I don't have the external drive, Dominic,"" Julian replied smoothly. ""And more importantly, I don't have Nora’s camera. My spotter informed me that Nora’s shutter was firing right as my rifle leveled with your head. That high-resolution Nikon of hers has a very crisp image of my face at an attempted murder scene. I can't have that circulating among the Massachusetts State Police, now can I?""
Nora stepped toward the desk, leaning directly over the microphone. ""Julian.""
A pause on the line. ""Ah, Nora. The enduring, stoic wife. My heart broke for you today, truly. Finding out your husband’s infidelity through a viewfinder? Positively Shakespearean.""
""You touch that girl or her baby, Julian, and I will upload the raw RAW files directly to every major news outlet and federal prosecutor in this country before you can leave the state,"" Nora said, her voice dropping into a register of icy authority that surprised even Dominic.
Julian chuckled, a dry, rasping sound. ""A valiant bluff, my dear. But here is my counter-offer. You have the camera, Dominic has the decryption keys. You will both bring them to the old warehouse terminal at Pier 49 in South Boston by midnight tonight. Just the two of you. No police. No federal agents. If I see a single flashing light within two miles of the docks, I will personally cut this child out of Elise and throw them both into the harbor.""
The line went dead.
Down on the street, Julian tossed his phone to an associate, stepped into the Escalade, and the heavy doors slammed shut. The two black SUVs accelerated down Marlborough Street, disappearing into the Boston traffic.
The office was silent except for the wind whistling through the bullet holes in the glass.
Dominic sank down into the leather armchair, burying his face in his hands. His broad shoulders shook silently. The mighty Dominic Vale, who had dominated the city's skyline with steel and concrete, looked utterly defeated.
""She has nobody else, Nora,"" Dominic whispered brokenly into his hands. ""Her parents died when she was in college. She has no siblings. She has nobody in this world. And she's carrying a baby that never asked for any of this.""
Nora stood over him, looking at the man she had loved for more than a decade. The betrayal burned inside her like acid, eating away at eleven years of shared memories, shared meals, and shared dreams. Every instinct of self-preservation screamed at her to walk down the stairs, drive to the nearest police precinct, and let Dominic and Julian destroy each other.
She looked down at her camera. Then she reached down and touched the small SD card tucked securely inside her boot.
""Stand up, Dominic,"" Nora said coldly.
He looked up, his bloodshot eyes filled with confusion. ""What?""
""I said stand up,"" Nora repeated, grabbing her heavy winter coat and her leather camera bag. ""We are going to Pier 49. But we aren't going there to trade. We're going there to take everything Julian Vance has ever owned.""
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Dominic stared at her in utter astonishment. ""Nora, you don't understand what he's capable of. He has a private security force. He owns half the dock authority.""
""And he doesn't know who I am,"" Nora replied, her eyes burning with fierce determination. ""He thinks I'm just a polite society wife who takes pretty pictures of wealthy babies. He's about to find out what happens when you try to burn down my life.""
