Chapter 6 - Marcus Learned Her Name
Mrs. Patterson answered on the second ring.
“Elena?”
“Is Noah with you?”
“Yes, sweetheart. He just got here.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Relief nearly dropped her to the floor.
“Lock the door.”
“What?”
“Lock every door. Don't let anyone inside.”
Mrs. Patterson's tone changed.
“Elena, what's happening?”
“I'll explain later.”
“Elena—”
“Please.”
A pause.
Then the older woman said, “All right.”
Dominic listened.
When the call ended, he spoke into his own phone.
“Gabriel, I need two men outside the building. Invisible protection.”
Elena looked at him.
“Who is Gabriel?”
“My security chief.”
“Can you trust him?”
Dominic's silence worried her.
“Dominic?”
“I think so.”
“You think so?”
“If I were certain who I could trust, Marcus would never have put me in that basement.”
Fair point.
Within thirty minutes, Gabriel Kane arrived.
Late forties.
Broad shoulders.
Graying beard.
Black jacket.
He entered the safe apartment and stopped when he saw Dominic.
For a long moment neither man spoke.
Then Gabriel crossed the room and embraced him.
Dominic stiffened, surprised.
“You look terrible,” Gabriel said.
“Your emotional support remains inspiring.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“Apparently Marcus encouraged that interpretation.”
Gabriel noticed Elena.
Dominic introduced them.
“Elena Marquez. She got me out.”
Gabriel looked at Elena as if trying to understand how a woman in a maid uniform had rescued Boston's most feared businessman.
“By herself?”
“Mostly.”
Elena shrugged.
“He knew about the tunnel.”
Gabriel turned back to Dominic.
“Half the organization believes Marcus is acting head because you're recovering overseas.”
“The other half?”
“Suspects you're dead.”
“And you?”
“I was looking for your body.”
Dominic's expression softened slightly.
“Thank you.”
Gabriel nodded.
Then became professional again.
“What's the plan?”
Dominic showed him Noah's photograph.
Gabriel's face hardened.
“Marcus sent this?”
“Yes.”
“I'll put people near the boy.”
“No uniforms. No visible weapons. Nothing that frightens him.”
Elena looked at Dominic.
He noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You looked surprised.”
She folded her arms.
“I didn't expect you to think about whether he'd be scared.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“I'm not a monster.”
“I didn't say you were.”
“You thought it.”
“I met you chained in a basement after recognizing you from articles that used the phrase alleged criminal network.”
Gabriel coughed to hide laughter.
Dominic glared at him.
“Enjoying yourself?”
“Immensely.”
For the next two hours, they investigated Marcus's movements.
Money had been transferred.
Executives replaced.
Three of Dominic's closest advisors had disappeared.
One had been found dead in what police called a boating accident.
Another had fled to Canada.
The third remained missing.
“This isn't a takeover,” Elena said.
Both men looked at her.
“What?” Dominic asked.
She pointed at the screen.
“Marcus isn't only replacing people loyal to you.”
Dominic followed her finger.
She highlighted several employees dismissed in the previous month.
“Some of these people worked for Marcus originally.”
Gabriel frowned.
“She's right.”
Elena continued.
“He's removing anyone who knows what happened before he took control.”
Dominic looked at her differently.
“You see patterns.”
“I clean offices. People think cleaners are invisible.”
She shrugged.
“You'd be shocked what people leave lying around.”
Gabriel smiled.
“She's useful.”
Dominic's response was immediate.
“She isn't joining.”
Elena turned.
“Again with the ordering.”
“This isn't a discussion.”
“You said that before.”
Gabriel looked between them.
“I feel I've entered an ongoing argument.”
“You have,” Elena said.
Dominic ignored her.
“This ends when Noah is safe.”
Elena's phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone went silent.
Dominic held out his hand.
“Speaker.”
Elena answered.
“Hello?”
Marcus's voice.
“Good evening, Elena.”
Her blood went cold.
Dominic's expression became deadly.
Marcus continued.
“I assume my brother is enjoying freedom.”
Elena said nothing.
“How's Noah?”
Dominic mouthed: Keep him talking.
Elena swallowed.
“Stay away from my son.”
Marcus laughed softly.
“You entered my family business.”
“Your brother was dying.”
“He was being stubborn.”
“You chained him to a wall.”
“And you released him.”
A pause.
“So now we have a balance problem.”
Elena glanced at Dominic.
“What do you want?”
“The brass key.”
Dominic shook his head.
Marcus continued.
“And the archive code.”
“I don't know it.”
“My brother does.”
“He won't give it to you.”
“That depends on what he's willing to lose.”
Dominic stepped closer to the phone.
“Marcus.”
Silence.
Then Marcus laughed.
“There you are.”
“You threaten the boy again and there won't be enough places in this city for you to hide.”
“Still making promises while injured.”
Marcus sounded amused.
“You always did mistake confidence for immortality.”
“Leave them out of this.”
Marcus's voice became colder.
“You made them part of it.”
“No. You did.”
For several seconds neither brother spoke.
Then Marcus said, “Midnight tomorrow. I'll send a location.”
The call ended.
Elena looked at Dominic.
“You're not going.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
He almost smiled.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“You ordering me around.”
“I'm serious.”
“So am I.”
Gabriel stepped between them verbally.
“It's obviously a trap.”
Dominic nodded.
“Of course.”
“Then why go?”
“Because traps work both ways.”
Elena stared.
“You sound exactly like the type of man who ends up chained in basements.”
Gabriel actually laughed.
Dominic gave him a look.
Then Dominic turned to Elena.
“I will not allow Marcus to use Noah.”
“I don't need you sacrificing yourself.”
“This isn't sacrifice.”
“What is it?”
Dominic's expression became unreadable.
“Correction.”
He turned toward the windows.
Below them Boston moved as if nothing had changed.
Cars.
Lights.
People going home.
Somewhere among those streets, Marcus was preparing his next move.
Dominic had spent three weeks trapped underground.
Marcus believed captivity had weakened him.
He was wrong.
It had stripped away something else.
Patience.
But what none of them knew was that Marcus had already contacted another person from Elena's past.
A man who had not seen his son in almost four years.
A man named Derek Walsh.
May you like
And when Derek heard how much Marcus Crane was willing to pay for information about Elena, he smiled.
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