Chapter 12 - THE TRADE
Claire was missing.
Her car was found three blocks from her apartment with the driver's door open and her phone crushed beneath the rear tire.
Celia sent one address.
An unfinished luxury house on the north shore.
One instruction.
Vivian comes alone.
Daniel refused.
"She's my sister."
Vivian shoved the flash drive into her purse. "And she's alive only if my mother believes she can still control me."
"I'm not sending you in there."
"You aren't sending me anywhere. I'm going."
For the first time, Daniel saw something in Vivian that wasn't performance.
Fear, yes.
But also resolve.
Marcus fitted a tracker inside the seam of her purse.
"Police stay back until we confirm Claire," he said.
Vivian drove alone.
Daniel watched the tracker move across a tablet from an unmarked SUV half a mile away.
Inside the unfinished house, Celia waited beside exposed beams and plastic-covered windows.
Claire sat tied to a chair.
Vivian's voice came through a hidden microphone.
"Let her go."
Celia smiled. "You always were dramatic."
"You kidnapped her."
"I corrected a problem."
"Like the waiter? Like Noah's son? Like Arthur?"
Silence.
Then Celia said, "Do not compare me to your little tantrums. Everything I did protected you."
Vivian laughed bitterly. "You protected yourself."
"Give me the drive."
Vivian held it up.
"Release Claire first."
Celia's expression changed.
She nodded to a man in the shadows.
He lifted a gun.
Daniel saw him through binoculars.
"Move," he told Marcus.
Police surged toward the house.
Inside, Celia heard the first shout.
Her face twisted.
"You brought them."
Vivian stepped in front of Claire.
"Yes."
May you like
Celia grabbed the gunman's wrist, turned the weapon toward Vivian, and fired.
The microphone went dead.
