Chapter 8 - The Floor That Did Not Exist
Vincent reached the service elevator first.
The doors would not open.
Someone had locked the system remotely.
"Stairs?" Dominic asked.
"Old wine-cellar route," Vincent said. "Sealed during renovation."
Dominic remembered another way.
Dominic, Vincent, and Clare forced the panel open.
The tunnel smelled of dust and wet concrete.
Dominic's injured leg screamed with every step.
He kept moving.
At the end of the tunnel, they heard Ellie crying.
Then a man's voice.
"Quiet. I just need your mother to cooperate."
Not Arthur.
Kevin Doyle.
Vincent drew his weapon but kept it low.
Dominic raised one hand.
"Kevin."
Silence.
"You know my voice. Let the child come to me."
Kevin appeared around the corner, pale and sweating. Ellie stood beside him, unharmed, clutching her wooden toy.
He was not holding a weapon.
He looked terrified.
"Boss, I didn't want this."
"Then stop doing it."
Kevin's eyes filled. "They have my brother. Same thing they did to Angela's kid."
"Who?"
Kevin shook his head. "Arthur isn't running it."
"Marcus?"
Kevin stared at him.
That was answer enough.
"Marcus is dead," Dominic said.
Kevin gave a broken laugh. "No, sir. Marcus is the reason everyone else keeps dying."
Clare gasped.
Kevin pushed Ellie gently toward her mother.
Then a red dot appeared on his chest.
Dominic saw it before Vincent did.
"DOWN!"
They dropped behind the concrete wall as a suppressed shot cracked through the tunnel.
Kevin fell.
Vincent dragged him behind cover.
Blood spread across Kevin's shoulder, but he was conscious.
He grabbed Dominic's wrist.
May you like
"North boathouse," he whispered. "Midnight. Marcus is coming for the ledger."
Then every light in the underground level went out.
