Chapter 10 - The Red Ribbon
I don’t remember leaving the study.
One moment I was staring at Sofia’s ribbon.
The next I was halfway to my car.
Morales called.
“Stop.”
“They have her.”
“We don’t know that.”
“They sent me her ribbon.”
“Maria and Sofia are safe.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“They’re with my officer.”
“Then why aren’t they answering?”
“Because I told them not to. We moved them ten minutes ago after surveillance spotted a vehicle.”
My knees nearly gave out.
“They don’t have her?”
“No.”
“Then the ribbon?”
Morales paused.
“Could have come from your house.”
Sofia had worn several red bows while visiting.
One had probably been left behind.
Julian wanted me frightened.
He succeeded.
But fear also clarified something.
They were no longer controlling events.
They were reacting.
“Where are Maria and Sofia?”
“I’m not telling you over the phone.”
“Fine.”
“Adrian, listen. They want you emotional. They may demand a meeting.”
The message came seconds later.
MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE WITH THE ORIGINAL PROXY DOCUMENT. NO POLICE.
Address followed.
An abandoned church near the river.
I showed Ethan.
“It’s a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“Then we don’t go.”
“We go prepared.”
At 11:57, I entered the church alone.
At least that was how it looked.
Morales had officers positioned blocks away.
Ethan had fitted a microphone inside my jacket.
Caleb monitored exits.
The building smelled of dust and old wood.
Candles had once stood along the walls.
Now moonlight entered through broken stained glass.
“Julian?”
Footsteps.
He emerged from behind the altar.
Blond hair.
Dark coat.
The same arrogant face I remembered at dinner.
“Adrian.”
“Where’s Vivienne?”
“You came for her?”
“I came because you threatened a child.”
He smiled.
“We never had the child.”
“I know.”
His smile faded.
“Then why come?”
“To understand why a man born with fifty million dollars needed to steal mine.”
That touched him.
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“Vale Meridian should have been broken apart years ago.”
“So this is business?”
“Everything is business.”
“You kidnapped my dog.”
“He was an obstacle.”
“You drugged him.”
“He’s alive.”
“Because you failed.”
Julian took a step closer.
“You think you won because you found an animal?”
“I think you lost because a three-year-old saw you.”
His face changed.
Good.
“Where’s the document?”
“Where’s Vivienne?”
“Gone.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Did she turn on you?”
Silence.
There it was.
A crack.
“You don’t know where she is,” I said.
Julian’s eyes narrowed.
“You came to manipulate me.”
“I came to give you one chance.”
“At what?”
“Tell the police everything.”
He laughed.
“You always believed rules protected you.”
“No. I believed money protected people like you.”
He moved closer.
“Your father destroyed mine.”
That surprised me.
“What?”
“Your father engineered the sale that killed Cross Industries.”
“Your father’s company was insolvent.”
“He made sure it stayed that way.”
“So this was revenge?”
“Partly.”
“Vivienne know?”
“Vivienne knows what she needs to know.”
I realized then that their partnership was not equal.
Vivienne had betrayed me.
But Julian had also manipulated her.
That didn’t excuse her.
It explained the growing panic in her messages.
“Did she agree to kill me?”
He smiled again.
“Ask her.”
“Where is she?”
“Maybe she’s closer than you think.”
Behind me, glass shattered.
I turned.
Julian ran.
Police moved.
Shouts filled the church.
I chased him through a side corridor.
He escaped through a broken door and reached a motorcycle.
Caleb’s vehicle blocked the road.
Julian swerved into an alley.
He got away.
But he left something behind.
A leather folder.
Inside were shareholder agreements.
Wire transfer instructions.
And a handwritten letter from Vivienne.
Not to me.
To Julian.
I’m done. I will not drug Adrian. I will not hurt Maria or the child. You promised no one would be harmed. Bruno was supposed to be boarded for three days, not kept sedated in cages. I want out.
The letter continued.
If you threaten me, I will give Adrian everything.
Dated that morning.
Vivienne was guilty.
But something had changed.
She had tried to leave.
Julian had apparently refused.
I didn’t know whether that made me angry or relieved.
Maybe both.
Morales took the letter.
“This could mean she’s hiding from him.”
“Or staging another lie.”
“Yes.”
“Can we find her?”
“We try.”
At two in the morning, I returned to the veterinary hospital.
Bruno was standing.
Unsteady, but standing.
He leaned against me.
“You were right about him,” I whispered.
Bruno looked toward the door.
Then growled.
I turned.
A woman stood at the end of the hallway.
Disheveled blonde hair.
No makeup.
Torn coat.
Vivienne.
Two police officers immediately approached.
She raised both hands.
“I’m not running.”
I stared at her.
“What are you doing here?”
Tears filled her eyes.
Real this time.
“I need to tell you where Julian keeps the original files.”
Morales stepped forward.
Vivienne looked past her.
At me.
“He’s not trying to take your company anymore.”
“What does he want?”
Her voice shook.
“To destroy it.”
“How?”
She swallowed.
“He has access to your manufacturing systems.”
My blood went cold.
Vale Meridian operated medical-device factories in three states.
Thousands of employees.
Hospitals depending on our products.
“What access?”
“The credentials I gave him.”
“You gave him?”
“I thought he wanted financial records.”
“What did you give him?”
“An executive authentication token.”
I stared at her.
She whispered:
“If we don’t stop him before tomorrow morning, he can shut down every production line you own.”
The wedding trap had just become something much bigger.
May you like
And Bruno had only been the first thing Julian tried to remove.
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