Chapter 11 - The Price of Silence
The message under the photo contained one sentence.
BRING NICHOLAS TO PIER 19 OR MRS. BENNETT DIES AT MIDNIGHT.
Claire went numb.
Nathan took the phone from Marcus.
“No.”
Claire snapped toward him. “That’s my mother.”
“And they want you emotional.”
“I am emotional!”
Nathan’s voice softened. “I know.”
Marcus leaned against the wall, pale from blood loss.
“Pier 19 is Circle territory.”
Claire turned on him. “You know where they took her?”
“I know where they want us to think they took her.”
Nathan looked at the photo carefully.
“Zoom in.”
Claire did.
Behind her mother was a yellow safety sign reflected in a window.
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL - EAST RIVER PUMP STATION.
Marcus frowned. “That isn’t Pier 19.”
Claire grabbed her coat.
“Then we go there.”
Nathan blocked the door.
“We need help.”
“From who? Pike?”
“No.”
He pulled a number from memory and dialed.
A woman answered on the third ring.
“Nathan?”
Claire stared.
Nathan said, “I need a favor.”
Twenty minutes later, they met FBI Special Agent Lena Torres beneath the Brooklyn Bridge.
Claire recognized her from television. Financial crimes. Organized corruption. Ruthless reputation.
Torres looked at Nathan as if she had seen a ghost.
“You were supposed to call me six months ago.”
“I got hit by a truck.”
“That is a weak excuse.”
Claire almost laughed despite everything.
Torres listened as they explained.
Then she said, “Raymond Cole has been under federal investigation for three years.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“You knew?”
“We suspected. We couldn’t prove the Circle existed.”
Claire said, “Dr. Shaw may have proof.”
Torres nodded. “Then rescue your mother and stay alive long enough to get it.”
They reached the pump station at 11:18 p.m.
The building appeared abandoned.
Inside, Claire heard her mother crying.
She ran toward the sound.
Nathan caught her arm.
“Wait.”
A chair sat beneath one hanging light.
Her mother was tied to it.
Claire took one step forward.
Her mother screamed through the gag.
Nathan looked down.
A thin wire crossed the floor.
Tripwire.
Then speakers crackled above them.
May you like
Raymond Cole’s calm voice filled the room.
“Welcome home, Nicholas.”
