Chapter 12 - Caleb Wanted His Fiancée Back
The message disappeared before anyone else in the station seemed to notice.
Dominic did.
So did I.
“He’s watching us.”
Dominic scanned the crowd.
“Or Reed has access to the station advertising network.”
My phone chimed.
A map pin.
Grand Ashford Hotel.
Chloe called.
“They sent me the same location.”
“Stay where you are.”
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“Ethan is my brother.”
I looked at Dominic.
He recognized the irony.
Neither of us bothered arguing with Chloe after that.
We met Marco two blocks from the Ashford.
No weapons drawn.
No dramatic entrance.
Dominic’s plan was frustratingly cautious.
The hotel remained open.
Guests crossed the lobby.
A wedding reception was happening somewhere upstairs.
People laughed beneath chandeliers while our lives collapsed behind service corridors.
I looked around at white flowers decorating the lobby.
My chest tightened.
Dominic noticed.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I frowned.
“That’s becoming your strangest quality.”
“You don’t have to pretend with me.”
The words settled somewhere deep.
We reached the service elevator.
Chloe arrived.
Her eyes were red.
“Ethan texted.”
She showed us.
I’M OKAY. DO WHAT THEY SAY.
Dominic studied it.
“Could be forced.”
“I know.”
We reached floor thirty-two.
My wedding floor.
The ballroom doors were open.
Empty.
At the far end, someone stood beneath the arch where Caleb and I were supposed to exchange vows.
Caleb.
My entire body stopped.
He looked exhausted.
Unshaven.
Dark coat.
Bruise along one cheek.
No smile.
No weapon.
Dominic moved in front of me.
Caleb almost laughed.
“Still predictable, Vale.”
“Where’s Ethan?”
“Alive.”
“Evelyn?”
“Also alive.”
I stepped around Dominic.
“Why are you here?”
Caleb looked at me.
Pain crossed his face.
“Because it ends tonight.”
“You've said versions of that for years.”
“I know.”
He walked closer.
Dominic’s body tightened.
Caleb stopped six feet away.
“Harper, I need you to trust me one last time.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
The answer seemed to hurt.
Good.
He nodded.
“Then don’t trust me. Just listen.”
He reached slowly into his coat.
Marco stepped forward.
Caleb lifted both hands.
Then removed a small device.
A recording transmitter.
“Reed thinks I brought you here to exchange the authentication key.”
Dominic frowned.
“For what?”
“For Harper.”
I went cold.
Caleb looked at me.
“Reed knows the ledger can clear you. He also knows you can testify about the planted card, the accounts, everything.”
“So he wants me gone.”
“No.”
Caleb shook his head.
“He wants you cooperative.”
“Why?”
“Because your signatures are the cleanest path to making the laundering network appear legitimate.”
Dominic understood.
“Reed wants her to confirm the transactions.”
“Yes.”
Caleb looked at me.
“He wants you to say you authorized them.”
“Why would I?”
“Because he has Ethan.”
Chloe stepped forward.
“And Evelyn.”
Caleb nodded.
“And because he believes he has something else you care about.”
His gaze shifted toward Dominic.
My pulse changed.
Dominic’s voice became cold.
“Me.”
Caleb nodded.
“Reed has men inside this hotel.”
Dominic glanced toward exits.
Caleb continued.
“He expects you to react violently.”
Of course.
The final frame.
Dominic Vale attacks federal officers while protecting his alleged financial accomplice.
Every piece of the story had been designed.
Dominic said, “Then we leave.”
“Too late.”
The ballroom doors shut.
Locks clicked.
Chloe inhaled sharply.
Speakers activated.
Reed’s voice filled the room.
“Good evening.”
Dominic looked up.
“Coward.”
Reed laughed.
“Still dramatic.”
A screen descended behind the wedding arch.
Video appeared.
Ethan sat in a small room beside Evelyn.
Both alive.
Both frightened.
Reed spoke.
“Harper Bennett, you have something I need.”
I shouted, “Let them go.”
“You’ll have that opportunity.”
A document appeared on screen.
A confession.
It claimed I had knowingly created Bennett Events Consulting.
That I had partnered with Dominic to move money.
That Caleb tried to stop me.
I laughed in disbelief.
“You want me to sign that?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“Ethan and Evelyn walk away.”
“What about me?”
“You cooperate.”
“And Dominic?”
Silence.
Dominic answered for him.
“I don’t.”
Reed’s voice became colder.
“Dominic Vale has spent years confusing restraint with immunity.”
I stepped closer to the camera.
“No.”
Dominic looked at me.
Reed asked, “No?”
“I’m not signing anything.”
Chloe whispered, “Harper.”
I looked at the screen.
“Because you made one mistake.”
Reed laughed.
“And what is that?”
“You assumed Caleb was still yours.”
Silence.
Caleb stared at me.
Dominic did too.
I didn’t actually know whether my gamble was correct.
Then Caleb smiled.
Small.
Sad.
But real.
He removed the transmitter.
Dropped it.
Crushed it beneath his shoe.
Reed shouted through the speakers.
“Caleb!”
Caleb looked directly into the camera.
“For three years I did what you told me.”
His voice shook.
“I lied to the only woman who ever loved me because I was too afraid to fight you.”
He looked at me.
“No more.”
The screens went black.
An alarm began ringing.
Marco moved toward the control room.
Caleb grabbed Dominic’s arm.
“Don’t.”
Dominic turned.
“Why?”
“Because that’s where Vincent is waiting.”
Chloe whispered, “Then where’s Ethan?”
Caleb looked toward the bridal suite.
“Behind the mirror.”
My blood ran cold.
We rushed inside.
Dominic and Caleb pulled the restored antique mirror away from the wall.
Behind it was a narrow maintenance passage.
And from somewhere inside came pounding.
Chloe screamed.
“Ethan!”
A voice answered.
“Chloe!”
She began crying.
Then another voice called out.
Evelyn.
“I am going to sue every single person involved in this.”
Despite everything, I laughed.
We opened the passage.
Ethan stumbled out.
Evelyn followed.
Alive.
Reed had shown us prerecorded footage.
He had already moved them here.
Caleb had known.
Dominic turned to him.
“You could have told us.”
Caleb looked at me.
“I needed Reed to believe the exchange was real.”
The ballroom alarm stopped.
Silence fell.
Then we heard slow applause.
Vincent Russo stepped through the main doors.
He was alone.
Smiling.
“Beautiful.”
Dominic moved in front of us.
Vincent looked at Caleb.
“You finally picked her.”
Caleb answered.
“Yes.”
Vincent’s smile disappeared.
Then he looked at Dominic.
“And you did too.”
My heart stopped.
Dominic didn’t deny it.
Vincent looked at me.
May you like
“So now we find out which man Harper Bennett is willing to destroy.”
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