Chapter 13 - The Theater Door

Adrian wanted to rush the theater. Price stopped him. “Your daughter's safety comes before your need for an answer.”

Those words hit hard, but Adrian listened. Officers secured exits, checked neighboring buildings, and established contact with the kidnappers. I stayed behind the command vehicle, fingers wrapped around Sophie's ribbon. She'd given it to me the morning we found the key.

A negotiator spoke through the theater's old intercom. The woman who answered sounded desperate rather than cruel. She said her name was Rachel Wynn. I recognized it instantly: the woman with the scar in my father's photograph.

“I tried to warn you,” Rachel told Adrian. “Holt found me first. He took the girl before I could get her out.”

“Then where is she?” Adrian demanded.

“Inside. He's using her to force the notebook out of you.”

Price asked Rachel to step outside unarmed. She appeared through a side door, hands raised, blood on her sleeve but walking steadily. Officers moved her to cover. Inside the theater, Holt discovered she'd left and began yelling.

“Sophie isn't part of this!” I shouted toward the open door before anyone could stop me. “Holt, you can still let her walk out.”

A shot cracked through the building. Everyone dropped.

For a terrible second there was no sound. Then Sophie screamed. Officers moved in through the secured entrance. Minutes later they emerged with Sophie wrapped in a jacket. She ran straight into Adrian's arms.

I held her afterward while a paramedic checked her hands and face. She was frightened, exhausted, and physically safe. Holt had escaped through a maintenance tunnel during the standoff. A security officer had been injured but was receiving treatment.

Rachel agreed to speak. “Marcus ordered the false shipments,” she said. “But Holt handled the threats. Owen found the second account, and they kept him alive because he knew the access code.”

May you like

Billionaire’s Wife Kicked a Waitress in Front of 300 Elites—One Slap Exp...

The billionaire’s wife tried to kick a waitress in the face in front of 300 wealthy guests. But seconds later, she whispered three...

My Mother Grabbed My Wife by the Hair Over Cold Soup—But What My Father...

My mother grabbed my wife by the hair over a bowl of cold soup. And the most shameful part? For one terrible second, I almost defe...

My Parents Kicked My 6-Year-Old Daughter and Me Out on Christmas—Then I...

My mother kicked my six-year-old daughter out of Christmas dinner, never realizing I was the only reason she still had a house to...

“Where is my father?” I asked.

Rachel looked at me, then at Sophie. “Under the old railway hospital. But if Marcus thinks we're talking, he'll move him before sunrise.”