Chapter 4 - The Man on the Phone
Officer Grant signaled for silence.
Arthur held the disposable phone near his chest and tried to breathe normally.
The man on the other end waited three seconds.
“Victoria?”
Arthur forced his voice low. “She can’t come to the phone.”
Silence.
Then the man said, “Who is this?”
Arthur’s anger took over before Grant could stop him. “The boy’s father.”
The line went dead.
Grant swore under his breath. “We could have kept him talking.”
Arthur slammed the phone onto the desk. “He said bring my son. I’m not playing games.”
“You may not have a choice.”
Upstairs, Leo was taken to the hospital. Arthur wanted to ride with him, but Leo grabbed Elena’s hand.
“Can she come?”
Elena looked at Arthur.
“Go,” he said. “Stay with him until I get there.”
At the hospital, a doctor documented dehydration, bruising, and a mild sedative in Leo’s system. Nothing life-threatening, but the language on the report made Elena’s hands cold: unlawful confinement, repeated restraint, probable psychological trauma.
Leo sat in bed wearing a blue hospital gown and holding a paper cup of apple juice.
“Did Victoria put you in the wall?” Elena asked gently.
He nodded.
“Was anyone else there?”
Leo stared into his cup.
“A man.”
“What did he look like?”
“He had a snake on his hand.”
“A tattoo?”
Leo nodded. “And he called her Vicky.”
Arthur arrived with Officer Grant just as Leo added, “He said Dad had to lose everything before Friday.”
Arthur stopped in the doorway.
Friday was two days away.
Grant asked, “What happens Friday?”
Arthur looked at him. “The board votes on the sale of my company.”
Vale Systems was worth hundreds of millions. Arthur owned a controlling block of shares through a family trust. If he became legally incapacitated—or if something happened to Leo, the named successor—control could temporarily shift under a clause Arthur’s late father had written years ago.
To Victoria.
Arthur sat down hard.
Grant’s phone buzzed.
He read the message, then looked at Arthur.
“We found your Range Rover.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned near the river.”
Arthur stood.
May you like
Grant did not.
“There’s blood in the driver’s seat.”
