Chapter 12 - Khloe Disappears Again
At 8:00 p.m., a file began circulating anonymously.
Three pages from Patrick Walsh’s ledger.
Not enough to expose every name.
Enough to prove the ledger existed.
Khloe sent copies to six attorneys, two journalists and a federal investigator whose name Daniel Pierce had provided.
Each received the same instructions.
If Khloe Hayes did not personally cancel the release by noon the following day, the complete archive would be delivered automatically.
Walsh called fourteen minutes later.
“You stupid girl.”
Khloe answered on speaker.
Damian listened.
“You wanted the ledger.”
“I wanted discretion.”
“That ship sailed when you kidnapped me.”
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“No. You have no idea what I already did.”
Walsh became silent.
Khloe continued.
“If Elena Russo is harmed, everything releases.”
“You expect me to believe you built a dead-man switch?”
“No.”
She looked at Damian.
“I expect you to wonder whether I did.”
Walsh hung up.
Leo grinned.
“I like her.”
Damian looked at him.
“You have liked her for three years.”
“True.”
Walsh provided a location forty minutes later.
An abandoned ferry terminal.
Elena would be released if Khloe appeared with the storage device.
Damian refused.
Khloe ignored him.
“No.”
“Damian.”
“No.”
“You say that often.”
“Because you suggest terrible ideas often.”
“Elena was involved because she tried to protect your family.”
“She also knowingly allowed Pierce to frighten you.”
“And she didn’t know they’d hurt me.”
“That does not improve the sentence.”
Khloe stepped closer.
“You can’t control every outcome.”
“I can control whether you walk into Walsh’s hands again.”
“How?”
“By locking you in this room if necessary.”
Khloe stared at him.
“Try it.”
Leo suddenly found the ceiling interesting.
Damian exhaled.
Then Khloe softened.
“I’m not asking permission.”
“I know.”
“I’m asking you to trust me.”
That stopped him.
Trust.
The thing both their families had destroyed.
Damian finally said:
“Fine.”
They created a plan.
Khloe would arrive visibly.
Nicolas would monitor the east side.
Leo the west.
Damian would remain out of sight until Elena was confirmed alive.
Except Walsh never appeared.
At 11:47, Khloe stood alone beneath the ferry terminal’s broken lights.
A car approached.
Elena was pushed out.
Khloe moved forward.
“Elena!”
The older woman stumbled.
Khloe ran to her.
Then lights exploded around them.
Not Walsh.
Police vehicles.
Federal agents.
Someone had tipped authorities.
Damian watched from a nearby building.
“What the hell?”
Leo spoke into the radio.
“Abort!”
Khloe helped Elena toward cover.
Agents surrounded the terminal.
A loudspeaker ordered everyone to stop.
Then Khloe vanished into the confusion.
Again.
Damian searched camera feeds.
No sign of her.
Her phone went offline.
Elena reached Damian twenty minutes later.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
“I thought she was with you.”
“She isn’t.”
Nicolas looked furious.
Someone had orchestrated the police arrival to separate Khloe from Damian.
Then Damian received a photograph.
Khloe sat in the passenger seat of a car.
Not restrained.
Beside her was Daniel Pierce.
Alive.
Free.
Under the image were five words.
SHE CAME WILLINGLY THIS TIME.
Damian stared.
Why would Khloe leave with the man who had helped kidnap her?
Then another message arrived.
From Khloe’s number.
I found Thomas.
Damian froze.
Thomas Hayes had supposedly died eight years ago.
Unless Elena had lied.
Or never knew the truth.
A location followed.
No explanation.
An address in rural Pennsylvania.
Damian looked at Leo.
“We’re going.”
Elena grabbed his arm.
“Damian.”
“What?”
“If Thomas is alive, Walsh isn’t the biggest problem anymore.”
“Why?”
May you like
Her face went pale.
“Because Thomas Hayes is the man who created Patrick Walsh.”
