Chapter 35 - Table Twelve Again
Romano’s closed early.
The owners did not ask many questions.
They had known the Davis family too long.
At seven-thirty, Matthew sat alone at Table Twelve.
A leather folder rested beside his hand.
It contained D-001.
Or rather, a convincing copy with meaningless substituted pages.
Federal agents occupied the kitchen, alley, neighboring storefront, and upstairs apartment.
Victor hated every second.
He was positioned behind a one-way interior partition with Hannah, Lily, and Marcus.
“You’re breathing too loudly,” Hannah whispered.
“My son is bait.”
“He’s twenty-eight.”
“He is my child.”
“He has a medical degree.”
“Psychology.”
Matthew heard through his earpiece.
“Dad.”
Silence.
Then Victor:
“Sorry.”
At 8:06, Elliot Crane walked in.
Alone.
That bothered Matthew.
Crane wore a navy suit and no coat despite the December cold.
He looked more like a hospital administrator than a criminal.
That was probably why he had survived.
He sat across from Matthew.
“Dr. Davis.”
“Dr. Crane.”
“You ruined my organization.”
“You abused children.”
“We treated difficult populations.”
“You restrained a thirteen-year-old for six hours because he refused medication.”
Crane smiled.
“You always were dramatic.”
Matthew looked at the empty chair beside him.
“Where is Samantha?”
“Safe.”
“I want proof.”
Crane slid over a phone.
Live video.
Samantha sat in a dim room.
Alive.
Matthew kept his face calm.
“You get the file after she walks free.”
“No.”
“Then we’re finished.”
Matthew stood.
Crane’s smile vanished.
“You inherited his arrogance.”
Matthew stopped.
“My father?”
“Your grandfather.”
Matthew turned slowly.
Crane leaned back.
“I met Dominic Davis once.”
Victor stiffened behind the partition.
Crane continued.
“I was a resident in forensic psychiatry. Your grandfather paid for consultations.”
“What kind?”
“How to identify weakness.”
Matthew felt disgust.
“He wanted psychological profiles.”
“On employees. Rivals. Family.”
“You helped him?”
“I was young.”
Matthew almost laughed.
Every monster eventually described himself as young.
Crane tapped the folder.
“Dominic understood what most people refuse to admit. Everyone has a fracture point.”
“You think trauma makes people controllable.”
“I know it does.”
“No.”
Crane smiled.
“You threw plates.”
Matthew went still.
Behind the wall, Victor closed his eyes.
Crane had read D-001 somehow.
“You were six years old,” Crane continued. “Your mother was dead. Your father frightened you. You learned destruction created attention.”
Matthew said nothing.
“Hannah arrived and redirected the behavior.”
“You say her name again and this meeting ends.”
Crane looked delighted.
“There. Attachment.”
Matthew realized the performance.
Crane did not simply want the file.
He wanted to prove he could still manipulate him.
So Matthew smiled.
“You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You studied my childhood like it ended there.”
Crane’s expression shifted.
Matthew leaned forward.
“Yes, I was scared of my father.”
Victor heard every word.
“Yes, I hated him sometimes.”
Victor lowered his eyes.
“Yes, I believed Hannah might leave.”
Hannah’s eyes filled.
“Yes, I thought if I stopped being interesting, everyone would disappear.”
Matthew breathed.
“But then I grew up.”
Crane frowned.
“And the adults around me changed too.”
Matthew looked toward the partition though he could not see through it.
“My father apologized without demanding forgiveness.”
Victor swallowed.
“Hannah stayed without making herself my savior.”
She wiped her cheek.
“And I learned something Dominic never understood.”
“What?”
“A fracture point can become a scar.”
Crane stared.
“And scars don’t always make people weaker.”
Matthew pushed the fake folder forward.
“Where is Samantha?”
Crane reached for it.
Federal agents prepared to move.
Then the restaurant lights went out.
Victor swore.
Emergency lights activated.
Crane smiled.
“You still think I came alone?”
Smoke erupted from the kitchen.
Agents shouted.
Matthew ducked as a side window shattered.
Not gunfire.
A vehicle had crashed into the alley entrance.
Crane ran.
Victor burst through the partition.
“Matthew!”
“I’m fine!”
Marcus chased Crane through the rear hall.
Lily helped Hannah move toward cover.
Federal agents surrounded the restaurant.
Then a phone rang on Table Twelve.
Crane’s phone.
Matthew answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You chose the wrong doctor.”
Matthew froze.
This was not Crane.
The speaker continued.
“Elliot was always temporary.”
“Who is this?”
“You already know my family.”
The line disconnected.
Agents captured Crane three blocks away.
Samantha was rescued from a motel in Queens.
But the larger threat remained.
Because when technicians examined Crane’s computer, they found financial transfers from Bellweather Holdings.
Authorized by a name Victor had not heard in thirty-seven years.
Adrian Mercer.
Samuel Mercer’s younger son.
Daniel’s uncle.
Emily’s great-uncle.
May you like
The brother of the man Victor had once threatened at Port 17.
And unlike Daniel, Adrian had spent a lifetime waiting for revenge.
