Chapter 12 - FERN
I screamed until no sound came out.
Stellan didn’t scream.
That was worse.
He became terrifyingly calm.
Every Cross man in Chicago moved within minutes.
Roads watched.
Airports monitored.
Cameras pulled.
Police quietly alerted.
Stellan stood in the center of it all like a blade.
“Find my daughter.”
Nobody wasted a second.
I grabbed his coat.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Don’t start.”
“No.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“And mine.”
“Then stop trying to shut me out!”
He turned.
For the first time, Stellan Cross looked broken.
“If I lose you too—”
The sentence died.
I touched his face.
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Neither do you.”
I swallowed my fear.
“But Fern is somewhere waiting for us.”
An hour later, we found the clue.
The black card smelled faintly of machine oil.
Dominic recognized the stock.
An old Cross printing warehouse on the South Side.
Abandoned eight years.
Too obvious.
Which meant Marek wanted us there.
Stellan prepared anyway.
“I go in front.”
“No.”
“Selene.”
“You’re the target.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s stupid.”
“That’s strategy.”
“That’s male stupidity wearing a suit.”
Dominic coughed.
Stellan glared at him.
We entered through different sides.
The warehouse was dark.
Rows of dead printing machines.
Broken windows.
Wind.
Then Fern cried.
Every cell in my body moved toward the sound.
Stellan grabbed me.
“Wait.”
“Let go.”
“Trip wires.”
He pointed.
Thin lines crossed the floor.
I almost stepped on one.
We moved carefully.
Fern cried again.
“Mama.”
My heart tore open.
“Mama’s here!”
“Selene, no!”
Too late.
Lights snapped on.
Marek stood on a catwalk above us.
Fern was in his arms.
She was crying.
Alive.
My knees almost failed.
“Give her to me!”
Marek smiled.
“You sound like Elena.”
Stellan aimed his weapon.
“If you drop her, you die before she hits the floor.”
“You always were dramatic.”
“Give me my daughter.”
“Trade.”
“For what?”
“You.”
Stellan answered instantly.
“Done.”
“No!”
He looked at me.
“Take Fern when he releases her.”
“I’m not letting you—”
“You are.”
Marek laughed.
“Touching.”
Stellan walked forward.
He placed his gun down.
Kicked it away.
Marek descended the stairs holding Fern.
“Come here.”
Stellan moved.
Marek handed Fern toward me.
I grabbed her.
My baby.
My whole world.
I pressed my mouth to her hair.
“Mommy’s here.”
Then Marek put a gun against Stellan’s head.
“Walk.”
I looked up.
“No.”
Stellan met my eyes.
“Take Fern.”
“No!”
“Selene.”
Something in his face told me what he had already decided.
He was going to die if it kept us alive.
Marek pushed him toward a side door.
I saw Dominic above.
Hidden behind a beam.
He was waiting for a shot.
But Marek kept Stellan too close.
Then Fern stopped crying.
She reached over my shoulder.
“Da!”
Marek looked back.
For one second.
One stupid second.
Stellan moved.
He twisted the gun away.
Dominic fired.
Marek stumbled.
Gunfire exploded from the upper floor.
Stellan’s men rushed in.
I covered Fern with my body.
When I looked up, Stellan was on the ground.
May you like
Blood spread beneath him.
“STELLAN!”
