Chapter 1 - The Baby He Was Never Supposed to See
The front window exploded before Claire could scream.
Glass sprayed across the Christmas tree. Adrian hit the floor, grabbed Claire by the waist, and dragged her behind the stone fireplace while the newborn in her arms woke with a terrified cry.
“Upstairs,” Adrian snapped.
“You just told me that.”
“And you didn’t listen.”
“Because a man who vanished for eight months doesn’t get to walk in and start giving orders.”
Another shot punched through the wall above them.
Adrian’s face changed.
“Fine. Hate me later. Right now, move.”
Claire looked toward the hooded stranger standing near the door. He had introduced himself to her months ago as Daniel Cross, a federal investigator. Tonight his smile was gone.
Cross crouched beside the broken window and peered through the curtains.
“Six vehicles,” he said. “Maybe twelve men.”
Adrian stared at him. “You brought them here?”
Cross barked a humorless laugh. “If I brought them, you’d already be dead.”
The baby cried harder.
Adrian’s eyes dropped to the tiny face peeking from the blanket. For half a second, the gunfire disappeared from his expression. He looked stunned. Frightened. Almost broken.
“My son?” he whispered.
Claire’s throat tightened. “His name is Noah.”
“Noah Vale?”
She hesitated.
“Noah Mercer.”
Adrian looked up sharply.
“My maiden name,” Claire said. “Because when the hospital asked for his father’s information, I didn’t know whether Adrian Vale had ever been real.”
That landed harder than the bullet that cracked the mantel.
Cross grabbed Adrian’s shoulder. “Family argument later.”
Adrian shoved him off. “Don’t touch me.”
Outside, a voice boomed through a portable speaker.
“Adrian Voss! Bring the child outside and no one else gets hurt.”
Claire went still.
Voss.
The name from the photographs.
She stared at her husband. “So that’s it? Adrian Voss?”
He didn’t answer.
The voice came again.
“You have sixty seconds.”
Claire clutched Noah tighter. “Why do they want him?”
Adrian drew a compact pistol from beneath his coat.
“Because they think he inherited something from me.”
“What?”
“A key.”
“To what?”
Adrian looked at Cross.
Cross looked away.
Claire’s fear turned to anger. “Somebody better start talking.”
A red laser dot slid across the wall.
Adrian grabbed Claire and rolled with her just as a bullet ripped through the curtain.
Then the lights went out.
In the sudden darkness, Cross whispered the sentence that made Claire’s blood run cold.
“They didn’t come to kidnap Noah.”
May you like
A beat.
“They came to test his blood.”
