Chapter 9 - THE WAREHOUSE
“You are not going alone.”
Dominic said it six times.
Mara ignored him six times.
“They asked for me.”
“They kidnapped two people.”
“One of them hates me.”
“That doesn’t mean you let her get murdered.”
Mara grabbed the copy of Eleanor’s file.
Dominic took it from her.
“That’s fake.”
“Yes.”
“They’ll know.”
“Eventually.”
“You think they’re going to give you time to explain?”
“I think they want information more than they want blood.”
Dominic stared.
“That is the most dangerous assumption you’ve made all night.”
Mara stepped close.
“No. The most dangerous assumption I ever made was that powerful men would leave me alone if I stayed quiet.”
Dominic said nothing.
She pointed at him.
“That ended at my mother’s grave.”
Twenty minutes later, they had a plan neither of them liked.
Mara entered the warehouse alone.
Dominic’s people stayed three blocks away.
A tiny transmitter was hidden inside the broken silver bracelet now repaired around her wrist.
The warehouse smelled like oil and rust.
“Mara!”
Preston’s voice.
She followed it.
He and Bianca were tied beneath a hanging industrial lamp.
Bianca’s makeup was streaked with tears.
For once, she looked nothing like a senator’s daughter.
She looked human.
“Mara,” Bianca whispered. “I’m sorry.”
Mara almost laughed.
“Bad timing.”
A man stepped from the shadows.
Tall.
Gray hair.
Mara recognized him.
“Mr. Harlan?”
Charles Harlan had been Senator Thorne’s chief of staff for twenty-two years.
He smiled.
“Your mother had the same face when she realized she was in too deep.”
Mara’s stomach tightened.
“You killed her.”
“I arranged an accident.”
Bianca made a broken sound.
“No.”
Harlan looked at her.
“Your father approved it.”
Bianca stared.
“You’re lying.”
“Sweetheart, your father approved everything.”
Mara held up the envelope.
“The files.”
Harlan extended a hand.
She dropped it on a table.
He opened it.
His face changed.
“This is photocopied.”
“Originals are safe.”
His eyes lifted.
“Where?”
“Let them go.”
Harlan smiled.
“You think this is a negotiation?”
“No.”
Mara swallowed.
“I think Dominic Vale is listening.”
Harlan’s smile disappeared.
Mara touched the bracelet.
“Hi, Dominic.”
Nothing happened.
Her stomach dropped.
Harlan laughed.
Then held up a small electronic box.
“Signal jammer.”
He pulled a gun.
Bianca screamed.
Mara backed away.
“You expected Vale to save you.”
“No.”
Mara looked toward the overhead pipes.
“I expected you to stand exactly there.”
Harlan frowned.
Preston suddenly kicked the leg of the metal table.
A heavy wrench Mara had placed near the edge flew off.
She caught it.
Swung.
The wrench smashed into Harlan’s gun hand.
The gun fired.
The bullet struck a pipe.
Steam exploded into the room.
Everyone screamed.
Mara ran to Bianca.
“Hold still!”
She attacked the plastic tie around Bianca’s wrist with a broken piece of metal.
Preston shouted.
Behind her, Harlan rose.
Blood ran down his hand.
He raised the gun with the other.
“Mara!”
A shot thundered.
Mara flinched.
Harlan dropped.
Dominic stood in the doorway.
Gun in hand.
Steam curled around him.
Mara stared.
“You came in.”
“Yes.”
“I said stay back.”
“You can yell at me later.”
Dominic rushed toward her.
Then his expression changed.
He looked down.
Mara followed his eyes.
A dark stain was spreading across the front of her dress.
Not blood from a bullet.
Fluid.
Her body cramped so violently she doubled over.
Dominic caught her.
“Mara?”
May you like
She gasped.
“I think something’s wrong with the baby.”
