Chapter 11 - THE WRONG GIRL
Adrian called three minutes later.
Celeste answered on speaker.
Ava was crying in the background.
“You idiot,” Celeste hissed. “Bring her back.”
Adrian laughed. “I needed Grace. Your daughter decided to play hero.”
Emiliano looked at Grace.
She stared at the floor.
“What happened?”
Grace whispered, “He came through the side door. Ava pushed me behind the couch and ran. He thought she was me because we had blankets over us.”
Adrian’s voice sharpened through the phone. “Bring Isabella’s folder to the old Vega marina. No police. No security.”
Detective Cross silently signaled her team.
“If Ava gets hurt—” Emiliano began.
“She gets hurt only if you make this difficult.”
The call ended.
Celeste grabbed Emiliano’s arm. “I’m going.”
“No.”
“She’s my child.”
“And you made her useful to people like Adrian.”
Celeste slapped a hand over her mouth and looked away.
Grace stepped toward her.
“Bring Ava home.”
Celeste looked down at the child she had humiliated hours earlier.
Grace’s cheek still showed the faint outline of her hand.
Celeste began to cry.
Emiliano prepared a copy of the folder while Cross placed a tracker inside the case. Mateo organized a covert team despite Adrian’s warning.
At the marina, fog covered the water.
Adrian stood inside an abandoned boathouse with Ava beside him.
He held a gun low against his thigh.
“Folder first.”
Emiliano held up the case.
“Ava first.”
Adrian smiled. “You negotiate like a man who still thinks money is the most valuable thing in the room.”
Celeste stepped from behind Emiliano.
Adrian’s smile vanished.
“You weren’t invited.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“She was always your weakness.”
Celeste’s face hardened. “No. She was the only thing in my life that wasn’t a lie.”
Adrian pulled Ava closer.
Then he looked at Emiliano.
May you like
“Ask your bride what she knew about Isabella’s brakes.”
Celeste went completely still.
