Chapter 7 - ORCHARD HOUSE
Police wanted Adrian to stay away.
He refused.
The FBI became involved because the kidnapping crossed multiple jurisdictions and appeared connected to corporate extortion.
Adrian gave them Maya's recording.
Not the original.
A copy.
The original remained hidden.
Only he and Thomas knew where.
Thomas wanted to go to Orchard House himself.
Adrian stopped him.
“If they see you, they control you.”
“They have my daughter.”
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“You have no idea what that feels like.”
Adrian didn't argue.
Thomas's anger was earned.
For years Adrian had walked past him in the garden with little more than a nod.
He knew Thomas's employment record.
Salary.
Health insurance.
Performance reviews.
He had never asked what kept the man awake at night.
Now Thomas's entire world was sitting in the back of a stranger's car.
“I don't know,” Adrian said quietly.
“But I know she saved my life.”
Thomas looked at him.
“And I will get her back.”
Orchard House stood at the end of a rural road surrounded by dead apple trees.
Federal agents remained two miles away.
Adrian drove alone.
A burner phone had instructed him to bring Maya's device and no police.
He entered the farmhouse.
No Maya.
A television flickered in the living room.
A live video feed showed her sitting in a metal chair somewhere else.
Hands free.
No visible injuries.
A distorted voice came from a speaker.
“Phone on the table.”
Adrian obeyed.
“Now the briefcase.”
He opened it.
Empty.
“Where are the original files?”
“There are no files.”
“Don't waste time.”
Adrian looked at the camera.
“You want my fingerprint.”
Silence.
Then the voice said, “Right hand on the scanner.”
A device sat beside the television.
Adrian didn't move.
“Maya first.”
The screen showed someone entering the room behind her.
Only torso visible.
Dark jacket.
Gloves.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“Touch her and you get nothing.”
“Scanner.”
Adrian slowly approached.
He placed his right hand above it.
Not down.
“What am I authorizing?”
“You don't need to know.”
“That means you need me more than I need you.”
The distorted voice laughed.
“We have the girl.”
“And if you hurt her, you lose your leverage.”
Silence.
Adrian continued.
“You're not professionals.”
Another silence.
“Professionals would've taken my phone before I entered. Professionals would've searched the building for a secondary transmitter. Professionals wouldn't let me stand here long enough to triangulate your signal.”
The speaker went dead.
Adrian dove sideways.
The television exploded as a bullet struck from outside.
Federal agents moved immediately.
Windows shattered.
Commands echoed.
Two men fled through the rear orchard.
One was captured.
The other escaped.
But Maya was not in the farmhouse.
The video had been transmitted remotely.
The captured man was Owen Pike.
The fake chauffeur.
Under questioning, Pike gave them one thing.
A location.
An abandoned boat storage facility near Waukegan Harbor.
Agents arrived forty minutes later.
Thomas was with them.
He ran inside before anyone could stop him.
“Maya!”
A voice answered.
“Dad!”
Thomas found her locked inside an office.
He dropped to his knees and pulled her into his arms.
Adrian remained outside the doorway.
For once, he understood he did not belong at the center of the moment.
Maya saw him over her father's shoulder.
“You came.”
Adrian nodded.
“You told me to follow you.”
A faint smile crossed her face.
“So I did.”
Then she remembered something.
“My notebook.”
“We have it.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Not that notebook.”
Thomas pulled back.
“What?”
“They kept asking about another notebook.”
Adrian frowned.
“What other notebook?”
“The blue one.”
“What is in it?”
Maya looked confused.
“Mostly drawings.”
“What kind?”
“People.”
Her voice became quieter.
“Cars.”
Then she looked at Adrian.
“And Mr. Hart.”
Adrian went still.
“Simon?”
Maya nodded.
“I saw him here before.”
“Where?”
“At the harbor.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
She thought carefully.
“He was with Mr. Julian.”
Adrian felt the conspiracy widen again.
Maya continued.
“And another man.”
“Who?”
“I didn't know his name then.”
“Do you now?”
She nodded.
“I saw him on the news today.”
Adrian waited.
Maya said the name.
“Mr. Wexler.”
The man whose company Adrian was supposed to acquire.
The man currently negotiating privately with Simon Hart.
May you like
The deal Adrian thought they were stealing from him had never been the target.
The deal itself was part of the trap.
