Chapter 7 - The Hostage Bargain
Nora backed away toward the exit, but two heavy iron doors slammed shut behind her. Two armed thugs stepped out of the shadows, blocking her only path of escape.
""Run, Lucy!"" Nora screamed, attempting to shield her child with her own body.
A heavy hand struck Nora across the cheek, sending her crashing to the oil-stained concrete floor. Lucy wailed in terror as a guard ripped her from Nora’s arms.
""Don't touch her!"" Nora shrieked, scrambling forward on hands and knees, blood trickling from the corner of her lip. ""Take me! Leave my daughter out of this, you monsters!""
""Shut up!"" Elena barked, pointing her pistol straight at Nora's head. Elena looked disheveled, manic, her pristine society-girl veneer completely shattered by obsession and bruised pride. ""Do you have any idea what you cost me? My father's empire is crumbling because Vincent canceled our merger contracts! My social standing is ruined! And for what? For a penniless little kitchen wench!""
Elena pulled out a sleek smartphone, dialed a number, and put it on speaker.
The phone rang twice before Vincent’s chilling voice boomed through the speaker. ""Speak.""
""Hello, darling,"" Elena purred, stepping over Nora and nudging her with the toe of her designer boot. ""I believe you've misplaced something precious.""
On the other end of the line, there was a beat of deadly, suffocating silence. When Vincent spoke again, his voice was stripped of all humanity. ""Elena. If you lay a single finger on either of them, death will be the kindest thing I offer you.""
""Save the tough-guy routine, Vincent!"" Elena snapped, her composure cracking. ""I have your little maid and her screeching brat. Here is the deal: you sign over the shipping manifests for the southern docks to my father, you liquidate your offshore accounts into my shell corporation, and you come to the 4th Street railyard alone. Unarmed. If I see a single Calder enforcer within two miles, I put a bullet through the little girl’s head first. You have twenty minutes.""
""Put Nora on the phone,"" Vincent commanded, his tone lethal yet steady.
Elena smirked and held the phone down to Nora’s face.
""Vincent, don't come!"" Nora cried out through her tears. ""It's an ambush! They have snipers in the rafters! Don't let them kill you—""
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Elena kicked Nora sharply in the ribs, cutting her off, and snatched the phone back. ""Twenty minutes, Vincent. The clock is ticking.""
Elena hung up and turned to her men. ""When Calder arrives, don't let him speak. The second he walks through those doors, empty your magazines into him. Then dispose of the girl and the mother in the river. Marcus wants this tied up cleanly.""
