Chapter 3 - Warehouse B-17
Dominic had spent three months being told what he couldn't do.
He couldn't walk.
Couldn't travel without assistance.
Couldn't enter certain buildings.
Couldn't run his empire the way he once had.
Couldn't chase the men who had ambushed him.
But when Sarah Miller's daughter disappeared, Dominic discovered there was one thing paralysis had not taken.
His willingness to terrify people.
"Close every gate," he ordered.
Raymond stepped forward.
"Dominic—"
"Nobody leaves."
Security obeyed immediately.
For the first time in months, Dominic's voice sounded like the voice they remembered.
Sarah stood in the foyer shaking.
"Please find her."
Dominic looked at her.
"I will."
"You don't know that."
"No."
He refused to lie.
"But whoever took Lily made a mistake."
"What?"
"They made me care."
Dominic turned toward his security chief.
"Prepare my SUV."
Raymond blocked him.
"You're not going."
"Move."
"It's a trap."
"Obviously."
"You can barely transfer yourself into a vehicle."
Dominic's eyes became ice.
"I said move."
Raymond lowered his voice.
"You're letting emotion control you."
"No. I'm letting information control me."
Dominic held up his phone.
"They want B-17."
Raymond went still.
"How do they know about the key?"
Dominic watched him.
"Excellent question."
Raymond understood the accusation.
"You think I took the child?"
"I think you've lied to me."
"That isn't the same thing."
"Tonight I'll find out."
Sarah stepped forward.
"I'm coming."
"No."
"She's my daughter."
"Which is exactly why you're staying."
"I won't."
Dominic looked at her.
"You think I'm asking?"
Sarah stared back.
"I'm not one of your employees."
Something about that almost made Dominic smile.
"Fine."
Raymond shook his head.
"This is insanity."
Dominic rolled past him.
"Then stay home."
The drive to Brooklyn took ninety minutes.
Rain began halfway there.
Sarah sat beside Dominic in the modified SUV, Captain's absence painfully obvious.
"Tell me something," Dominic said.
"What?"
"Why did Evan call the rabbit Captain?"
Sarah stared through the window.
"I don't know."
"Think."
"He used to say Captain would protect Lily."
"From what?"
"He never said."
Dominic considered it.
"Did Evan know computers?"
"He was obsessed with them."
"Interesting."
"Why?"
"Because B-17 probably isn't just a warehouse."
They arrived shortly before midnight.
The building appeared abandoned.
Broken windows.
Rusting doors.
Faded paint.
Dominic's men remained several blocks away.
The kidnappers had demanded he come alone.
Dominic had interpreted "alone" creatively.
Sarah pushed his wheelchair toward the entrance.
"Stay behind me."
She almost laughed.
"Dominic, you're in a wheelchair."
"And I'm still more dangerous than you."
Inside, darkness swallowed them.
"Lily?" Sarah called.
Nothing.
Then:
"Mommy?"
Sarah ran.
"Lily!"
A single light came on.
Lily sat in a chair near the center of the warehouse.
She wasn't tied.
Captain was in her arms.
A masked man stood behind her.
Dominic raised the pistol hidden beside his wheelchair.
"Step away from her."
The man laughed.
"You brought company."
"She's the child's mother."
"I said alone."
"You also kidnapped a three-year-old. We're both disappointed."
The man's weapon moved toward Lily.
Dominic's expression changed.
"Don't."
The word was quiet.
But lethal.
"Key."
Dominic held it up.
"Girl first."
"Key first."
"No."
A long silence.
Then the masked man pushed Lily forward.
Sarah rushed toward her.
"Mommy!"
Sarah grabbed her daughter.
Dominic tossed the key across the concrete.
The man caught it.
"Now leave."
Dominic didn't move.
"Who hired you?"
The man laughed.
"You still think this is about the kid?"
"What is it about?"
"Cleaning up old mistakes."
Suddenly gunfire erupted outside.
The masked man turned.
Dominic fired.
The weapon flew from the man's hand.
Sarah covered Lily.
Dominic's security team rushed inside.
The masked man fled through a side door.
Dominic shouted:
"Alive!"
Two men chased him.
Dominic looked toward Sarah.
"You okay?"
She nodded.
Lily climbed onto Dominic's lap without asking.
She wrapped her arms around his neck.
Dominic froze.
Then slowly held her.
"Mr. Dom."
"What?"
"I knew you'd come."
Those words hit harder than the bullets ever had.
Anthony arrived ten minutes later.
"We found something."
Behind a false wall was a narrow room.
Inside were metal cabinets.
Most were empty.
One remained locked.
B-17 opened it.
Inside were dozens of drives and paper files.
Sarah stared.
"What is all this?"
Dominic picked up a folder.
Names.
Payments.
Dates.
Then he found one marked:
EVAN MILLER.
Sarah's knees nearly failed.
Dominic opened it.
Inside were photographs of Evan.
Employment records.
Surveillance.
And one handwritten report.
Dominic read silently.
Sarah watched his face.
"What?"
Dominic didn't answer.
"Dominic."
He handed her the page.
Evan had discovered that someone inside the Moretti organization was secretly diverting millions through shell companies.
He had copied evidence.
He intended to give it to Dominic personally.
But the report contained one final line.
MILLER ATTEMPTED CONTACT WITH D.M. — INTERCEPTED BY R.M.
Sarah looked up.
"R.M."
Dominic already knew.
Raymond Moretti.
Anthony opened another folder.
"Dominic."
Inside was a photograph from four years earlier.
Evan stood beside Raymond.
They were arguing.
On the back, someone had written:
FINAL WARNING.
Sarah covered her mouth.
"He killed Evan."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"We don't know yet."
"Don't defend him."
"I'm not."
But part of Dominic still wanted another explanation.
Raymond had taught him to ride a bicycle.
Raymond had sat beside his hospital bed.
Raymond had been his family.
Anthony suddenly called from another cabinet.
"You need to see this."
A file was labeled with Dominic's name.
Inside were medical documents.
His hospital records.
Scans of his spine.
Dominic stared.
"Why are these here?"
Anthony turned another page.
Then stopped.
"What?"
Dominic demanded.
Anthony's face changed.
"Your doctors said the bullet caused the permanent damage."
"Yes."
Anthony handed him the paper.
"This says it didn't."
Dominic read.
The initial trauma had been serious but potentially recoverable.
Then came a notation.
A medication administered before surgery.
A drug that caused dangerous swelling and complications.
Dominic's pulse accelerated.
"Who authorized it?"
Anthony pointed.
The signature was illegible.
But the authorization code wasn't.
RM-01.
Raymond Moretti.
Sarah whispered:
"Oh my God."
Dominic stared at his legs.
For three months he had believed an assassin had taken his ability to walk.
Now the evidence suggested something far worse.
The ambush might not have paralyzed him.
Someone inside the hospital had made sure he stayed that way.
His phone rang.
Raymond.
Dominic answered.
"Hello, Uncle."
Raymond's voice was calm.
"You shouldn't have gone there."
Dominic looked at the medical report.
"You knew."
Silence.
"You knew I might walk again."
"Come home."
"You poisoned me."
"Come home and I'll explain."
Dominic's voice dropped.
"Did you kill Evan Miller?"
Sarah stared at him.
Raymond didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
Dominic closed his eyes.
Then Raymond said something unexpected.
"I didn't order the ambush."
Dominic opened them.
"Then who did?"
"I can't tell you over the phone."
"Why?"
"Because the person who ordered it is standing closer to you than you think."
Dominic looked around the warehouse.
Anthony.
Sarah.
Security.
Lily.
His stomach tightened.
Raymond continued.
"And if you trust the wrong person tonight, you'll never leave B-17 alive."
The lights went out.
Gunfire exploded from the darkness.
May you like
And Sarah screamed.
---
