CHAPTER 5 — VANESSA'S FIRST MISTAKE WAS HUMILIATING ME
Northstar Industrial had been abandoned for six years.
Yet at 11:47 p.m., every light inside the old factory was on.
Dominic parked two blocks away.
I stared at the enormous building through the windshield.
“This is where my father died.”
“No,” Dominic said.
I looked at him.
“This is where they wanted you to believe he died.”
He turned off the engine.
“Stay close.”
We stepped into the rain.
The factory gates were unlocked.
That frightened me more than a locked gate would have.
Someone wanted us inside.
We entered through the loading dock.
The smell hit me immediately.
Oil.
Rust.
Wet concrete.
And something else.
Smoke.
Dominic noticed it too.
“Someone's been here recently.”
I tightened my grip around the black key.
“Linda?”
“We'll find her.”
We moved through the dark corridor.
Then we heard a sound.
A chair scraping against concrete.
I stopped.
Dominic raised his hand.
We moved toward the sound.
The door opened.
Three men were standing inside.
And Linda was tied to a chair.
“Mom!”
One man grabbed her.
“Don't.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
The man laughed.
“You came.”
I stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
“Not until we get the key.”
I pulled it from my pocket.
The man's eyes locked onto it.
“Throw it.”
I didn't move.
“First, untie her.”
He smiled.
“You're bargaining?”
“Yes.”
The man looked at Dominic.
“You've trained her well.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“I didn't train her.”
The man laughed.
“Not yet.”
He reached for Linda.
I moved.
Fast.
My hand caught his wrist.
I twisted.
He screamed.
The other two men rushed me.
I ducked the first punch.
Blocked the second.
Then drove my elbow into the attacker's ribs.
He stumbled.
The third man grabbed my jacket.
I turned.
Used his momentum.
And sent him crashing into the metal table.
Silence.
Dominic stared at me.
I looked back.
“What?”
“You said you didn't fight anymore.”
“I don't.”
He glanced at the three men on the floor.
“Interesting definition.”
I ignored him.
I ran to Linda.
“Mom.”
She was shaking.
“I'm okay.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
She looked at Dominic.
Then whispered:
“Avery, we need to leave.”
“Not yet.”
I looked at the men.
“Who sent you?”
Nobody answered.
Dominic crouched beside the closest one.
He pulled out a phone.
The screen was still unlocked.
A single message was open.
PHASE TWO COMPLETE. BRING THE GIRL TO THE EAST WAREHOUSE.
I stared.
“The girl?”
Dominic looked at me.
“That's you.”
I shook my head.
“What's Phase Two?”
He didn't answer.
Then we heard footsteps.
Slow.
Elegant.
Someone was walking down the corridor.
Dominic immediately raised his weapon.
A woman appeared.
Cream dress.
Black coat.
Perfect hair.
Vanessa.
My stomach dropped.
“What are you doing here?”
She smiled.
“Looking for you.”
Dominic's face became unreadable.
“Vanessa.”
She looked at him.
“You shouldn't have brought her.”
I stepped forward.
“You kidnapped my mother.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Kidnapped?”
She looked at Linda.
“I prefer insurance.”
Dominic moved toward her.
“You have five seconds to explain.”
Vanessa didn't move.
“You really think I did this alone?”
Dominic stopped.
She smiled.
“That's your problem, Dominic.”
“What problem?”
“You've spent years believing you're the most powerful man in Chicago.”
She looked at me.
“You aren't.”
My heart pounded.
“Who are you working for?”
Vanessa's smile disappeared.
“Your father.”
I froze.
“My father is dead.”
“So is mine.”
She paused.
“Or at least that's what they told us.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What do you know about Anthony?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“More than you do.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Talk.”
She smiled.
“You're still the same.”
“The same what?”
“Angry.”
She glanced at me.
“Protective.”
Then she looked back at Dominic.
“Predictable.”
Suddenly, the factory lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Dominic pulled me behind a concrete pillar.
Linda screamed.
Vanessa disappeared into the darkness.
“Stay down!”
Dominic fired toward the muzzle flashes.
I crawled toward Mom.
“Are you hurt?”
“No!”
A bullet struck the wall above us.
Concrete exploded.
Dominic returned fire.
Then silence.
When the emergency lights came on—
Vanessa was gone.
So were the three men.
Only one thing remained.
A white envelope.
I picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Standing beside a younger Dominic.
And between them—
a man I didn't recognize.
On the back were three words:
ASK YOUR MOTHER.
I turned toward Linda.
She was crying.
“Mom?”
She looked at the photograph.
Her face collapsed.
“You know him.”
She nodded.
“Who is he?”
She whispered:
“His name was Gabriel.”
“Who?”
“Your father's best friend.”
“What happened to him?”
“He disappeared.”
“When?”
“Three days before your father died.”
Dominic stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell anyone?”
Linda looked at him.
“Because Gabriel warned me.”
“About what?”
She swallowed.
“He said your father had discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
Linda's voice broke.
“That Northstar wasn't being used to move money.”
She looked at me.
“It was being used to move people.”
The words made my blood run cold.
“People?”
She nodded.
“Witnesses.”
“Witnesses to what?”
She closed her eyes.
“Murder.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“How many?”
“Dozens.”
I stared at him.
“My father discovered a human trafficking operation?”
Linda nodded.
“And he was going to expose it.”
Dominic looked at the photograph again.
Then he noticed something.
A small marking on Gabriel's watch.
The same M symbol.
His voice became quiet.
“Gabriel worked for my father.”
I stared.
“So our fathers were investigating the same organization.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did they both disappear?”
Dominic looked at me.
“Because they found someone inside the organization.”
“Who?”
Before he could answer, his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You're getting close.”
Dominic said nothing.
The voice continued.
“Stop investigating.”
Dominic smiled coldly.
“Or?”
A pause.
“Or Vanessa won't be the only woman you lose.”
The call ended.
I looked at him.
“What did they mean?”
Dominic didn't answer.
He was staring at the photograph.
At the man standing between our fathers.
Gabriel.
Then he whispered:
“I know that face.”
I stared.
“You said you didn't recognize him.”
“I didn't.”
“Then what changed?”
Dominic looked at me.
“He's dead.”
“What?”
“I buried him.”
My heart stopped.
“You buried Gabriel?”
“No.”
Dominic's face had gone pale.
“My father did.”
He looked at me.
“And he told me never to ask where the body came from.”
For the first time, I understood.
The mystery wasn't about who killed our fathers.
It was about who had been lying about their deaths.
And Vanessa had just made the biggest mistake of her life.
She had kidnapped my mother.
She had exposed herself.
May you like
And now I wasn't running anymore.
I was hunting.
