Chapter 3 - The Ghost at the Clinic
The silence in the room was suffocating. Alexander crushed the burner phone in his bare hand, the plastic casing splintering beneath his fingers. He looked at me, his eyes burning with an inferno of rage and conflicting loyalties.
""Eleanor is alive,"" I breathed, the reality sinking into my soul like an anchor. ""My sister is really alive.""
""Victoria didn't act alone,"" Alexander said, pacing toward the floor-to-ceiling monitors showing live feeds of our compound. ""She’s working with the Moretti syndicate—the rivals who tried to assassinate my father ten years ago. They kept Eleanor as collateral, waiting for the day I signed over the Whitmore shipping corridors. Victoria was their inside operative.""
""Then we have to trade me,"" I said immediately, standing up straight. ""Take me to the docks. If it means saving my sister, I’ll do it.""
Alexander closed the distance between us in two strides, gripping my shoulders. His touch was firm, almost desperate. ""You don't understand the underworld, Claire. They don't do trades. They do executions. If you walk into that dockyard, they will kill Eleanor the moment they confirm your identity, and then they will put a bullet through you so there are no surviving Bennetts left to claim the Whitmore trust.""
""Then what are we going to do?"" I asked, looking down at Oliver, who was watching us wide-eyed from Martha’s arms. ""We can't just let her die.""
Alexander turned to his chief of security, a hulking man named Roman who had just entered the office covered in rain. ""Did the surveillance team pull the location of the private clinic where Victoria was keeping Eleanor?""
Roman nodded grimly. ""St. Jude’s Sanitarium in the Shenandoah Valley. Officially shut down six months ago, but satellite thermal imagery shows a backup generator running on the sub-level. Victoria had three armed squads guarding the perimeter.""
""We don't wait for dawn,"" Alexander declared, checking his sidearm. ""We hit the sanitarium before they realize Victoria failed to silence Claire. We bring Eleanor home tonight.""
""I'm coming with you,"" I said firmly, crossing my arms.
""Out of the question,"" Alexander snapped. ""It's an active combat zone.""
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""Look at me, Alexander!"" I raised my voice, stepping into the light of the chandelier. ""I have Eleanor’s face, Eleanor’s voice, and Eleanor’s blood. If Victoria's men see me walking in through the front gate, they won't shoot—they’ll hesitate because they think Eleanor escaped from her ward. That split-second hesitation is the only advantage your men will have.""
Alexander stared at me, his cold demeanor cracking for a brief second as admiration flickered in his eyes. He leaned down, his voice dropping to a fierce whisper. ""You have your sister’s stubbornness. Put on the tactical vest. If you step an inch away from my side, I'll carry you back over my shoulder.""
