Chapter 7
I ran.
Not walked.
Not ordered someone else.
Ran.
Richard would have called that weakness.
Good.
Catherine stood outside my suite when I reached it.
“Clara?”
“Inside.”
“Mia?”
“Inside.”
“Stephen?”
Her face changed.
“What?”
I opened the door.
Empty sitting room.
Food untouched.
Bedroom door open.
Emma? No Emma. Catherine had been with them. Need who took? Maybe Catherine stepped out because Clara wanted milk? She left to get? Let's state: Catherine had stepped into hall to call for warm milk. Bad but plausible.
“Where are they?”
Catherine went pale.
“I stepped out for milk.”
My entire body went cold.
We searched.
Bathroom empty.
Closet.
Then I heard crying.
Faint.
Service corridor.
I opened the connecting door.
Clara sat on the floor.
Mia against her chest.
Stephen Hale stood over them.
My cousin.
Thirty-eight.
Senior capo.
One hand on Clara's pocket.
He looked up.
“Adrian.”
Clara scrambled backward.
“Daddy!”
I moved between them.
Stephen smiled.
“She learns fast.”
“What are you doing?”
“Helping.”
I stared.
He pointed toward Clara.
“She has something.”
“She is a child.”
“She has Daniel's evidence.”
There.
He knew.
“What evidence?”
Stephen laughed.
“You really don't know.”
No.
That bothered him.
“Victoria never told you?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Typical.”
I looked at Clara.
“Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head.
Stephen rolled his eyes.
“Oh, please.”
He looked at her.
“I grabbed your pocket.”
Clara cried harder.
He smiled.
“See? Everything is trauma when you're four.”
My jaw tightened.
I stepped closer.
“Back away.”
He laughed.
“You're proving every rumor.”
“What rumor?”
“That fatherhood ruined you.”
Silence.
“Your daughter cries and the great Adrian Hale forgets the organization.”
I stared.
“Yes.”
That confused him.
“What?”
“I forget men like you exist for a second.”
His smile faded.
Good.
I looked at Clara.
“What is he trying to take?”
She reached into her pocket.
Not the envelope.
Something small.
A silver button.
Hale crest.
Stephen went pale.
Interesting.
Clara held it toward me.
“Mommy said bad man dropped this.”
I took it.
Looked at Stephen's tuxedo.
One cuff button missing.
Not tonight.
Older wear.
He knew exactly what it meant.
“Where did Elena get this?”
Stephen said nothing.
Clara answered.
“Blue house.”
The house where Richard visited Elena.
Stephen had been there too.
I stared.
“You threatened Elena.”
He laughed.
“Everyone threatened Elena.”
My hands curled.
“Why?”
“Because she wouldn't shut up.”
There.
Raw.
No euphemism.
“She found Daniel's evidence.”
“What evidence?”
Stephen smiled.
Then looked at Mia.
“Her father knows.”
My blood went cold.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
He stepped closer.
“And if you want him alive, you stop pretending this wedding changed anything.”
I stared.
“What do you want?”
“North corridor reopened.”
Of course.
“Then Daniel comes home?”
“Maybe.”
There.
Leverage.
A man held for eight months.
A child hidden for four years.
A wedding bride willing to lock a little girl away.
All to force one route open.
I looked at Stephen.
“No.”
His face changed.
“You'd risk Daniel?”
“Yes.”
He blinked.
“Why?”
“Because if I reward this once, you'll take Clara next.”
Silence.
He hadn't expected me to say it.
I handed the silver button to Catherine.
May you like
Then looked at Stephen.
“Now tell me where Daniel is before my patience becomes the least of your problems.”
