Chapter 15 - A Gun Under the Chandelier
Celeste laughed.
Actually laughed.
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“You think I won’t?”
“I think you’ve wanted to for years.”
I kept my eyes on the gun.
Brooks was listening.
She needed time.
I set the box on the floor.
Victor came down the staircase.
His men spread out.
“You make things difficult, Ethan.”
“You kidnapped my son.”
Victor looked offended.
“I did no such thing.”
“Your people did.”
“Rachel’s people.”
I looked at Celeste.
She shook her head.
Victor smiled.
“Families are complicated.”
He picked up the box.
Then the lights died.
Again.
This time, I was ready.
I grabbed Celeste and pulled her behind the piano.
Gunshots exploded.
Glass shattered.
Guests were gone, but the ballroom echoed like a cathedral.
Police shouted outside.
Victor’s men fired toward the doors.
Celeste crawled toward the chandelier control.
“What are you doing?”
“Buying time.”
She hit the switch.
The huge crystal fixture dropped.
Not all the way.
Just enough to swing.
One of Victor’s men looked up.
Too late.
The chandelier slammed into him and knocked him across the marble.
I tackled the second man.
We hit the floor hard.
His gun skidded away.
He punched me twice.
I drove my shoulder into his ribs.
Celeste kicked the gun toward me.
Victor grabbed her from behind.
He pressed his pistol under her jaw.
“Stop.”
Everything stopped.
I was on my knees.
Blood in my mouth.
Victor backed toward the service corridor with Celeste.
She looked at me.
For the first time, she did not look cold.
She looked like a terrified child.
“Ethan,” she whispered.
Victor dragged her through the door.
I started after them.
Then my phone rang.
My mother.
I answered.
Her voice was shaking.
“Ethan, don’t follow him.”
“Mom?”
“He has Noah.”
My entire body went numb.
“No. Noah is at the hospital.”
“Not anymore.”
I heard a child crying in the background.
Then Victor took the phone.
“One box. One boy. Pier 19 again.”
May you like
He paused.
“And this time, if police come, your son watches someone die.”
