Chapter 9 - MY MOTHER’S SECRET
Marek smiled.
I hated him instantly.
“Selene Vale.”
I kept both hands on the cart.
“You have the wrong maid.”
“No.”
He walked closer.
“You have Elena’s eyes.”
My pulse roared.
“You knew my mother.”
“Very well.”
I wanted to hit him.
Instead I said, “Let Mrs. Thornbury go.”
“Stellan sent you?”
“No.”
That part was true.
He had specifically told me not to do this.
Marek chuckled.
“Of course not. My nephew was always sentimental underneath all that ice.”
“You shot at his house.”
“Correction. I allowed someone to shoot at his house.”
“You kidnapped an old woman.”
“I needed attention.”
“You have mine.”
His smile disappeared.
“Where is the child?”
“Safe.”
“No child is safe with Stellan.”
“That’s funny coming from you.”
His eyes hardened.
Good.
Make him angry.
Angry people made mistakes.
Behind the cart, my thumb pressed the hidden emergency button Dominic had installed.
Once.
Twice.
Signal sent.
Marek walked around me.
“Your mother tried to destroy this family.”
“My mother kept grocery coupons in a coffee can.”
“She was also smarter than every accountant Silas ever hired.”
“What did she find?”
“A ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“Payments. Judges. Police. Politicians.”
“So you killed her.”
His face changed.
“I didn’t.”
“Silas?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Marek looked almost amused.
“You still think this war is between me and Stellan.”
Before I could ask, gunfire erupted below.
Marek’s men shouted.
He grabbed me.
I drove my elbow into his ribs.
He cursed.
I hit him again.
He slapped me hard enough to throw me against the wall.
Pain exploded through my cheek.
Then Stellan appeared at the end of the hallway.
I had never seen murder on a human face before.
Now I did.
“Take your hand off her.”
Marek pressed a gun to my ribs.
“Hello, nephew.”
Stellan’s weapon was aimed at his head.
“Let her go.”
“Or what?”
“Try me.”
Mrs. Thornbury screamed from inside the room.
Dominic’s men came through the stairwell.
Marek pulled me backward.
“Tell him, Selene.”
“Tell him what?”
“Why Silas wanted you separated.”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh, but I do.”
Stellan’s gun never moved.
“Marek.”
His uncle smiled.
“Elena Vale didn’t die because of me.”
“Shut up.”
“She died because she found out who betrayed your father.”
Stellan went still.
Marek leaned close to my ear.
“And the traitor is still standing beside you.”
My eyes shifted.
Dominic had just entered the hallway.
Marek fired.
Everything happened at once.
Stellan shot back.
I dropped.
Glass exploded.
Men shouted.
Dominic fell against the wall.
Marek disappeared through the emergency stairwell.
Stellan reached me.
“Where are you hit?”
“I’m not.”
He grabbed my face.
“Selene.”
“I’m okay.”
His hands shook.
I caught his wrists.
“Stellan.”
He pulled me into him.
Hard.
Too hard.
For three seconds, I let him.
Then Dominic groaned.
We ran to him.
Blood soaked his shirt near the shoulder.
Stellan knelt.
“Stay with me.”
Dominic laughed weakly.
“Hard to get rid of me.”
Mrs. Thornbury was freed.
Marek escaped.
But when we returned to the safe house at four in the morning, a package was waiting.
No return address.
Inside was my mother’s old leather journal.
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On the first page, written in her handwriting:
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, DO NOT TRUST DOMINIC HALE.
