Chapter 11 - Someone Tried Again
Adrian never reached the Cayman Islands.
The aircraft landed.
His passport did not leave the plane.
The pilot claimed Adrian had boarded in New Orleans, entered the cabin, and remained out of sight until takeoff.
But somewhere between the private terminal and departure, another vehicle had approached the plane.
Security footage had been erased.
Dorian received a message twelve hours later.
A photograph.
Adrian tied to a chair.
His face bruised.
Still alive.
Beneath it:
STOP DIGGING INTO ELENA OR YOUR BROTHER DIES NEXT.
Audrey watched Dorian read the message.
His expression did not change.
But the phone creaked in his grip.
“They framed him,” Audrey said.
“Yes.”
“Because Caleb’s drawing made us suspicious.”
“Yes.”
“And they needed you looking away from the real person.”
Dorian called Nolan.
“Find the plane’s service crew. Every vehicle. Every fuel receipt.”
Then he turned to Audrey.
“Caleb cannot see this.”
She nodded.
That afternoon, Caleb developed a fever.
At first Audrey assumed stress.
Then he vomited.
His pupils looked wrong.
She checked his pulse.
Too slow.
“What did he take?”
The housekeeper panicked.
“Nothing.”
“Medication?”
“Only his vitamin.”
Audrey found the bottle.
The pills looked ordinary.
But Audrey had worked around enough medication to recognize something strange.
The coating was wrong.
She smelled one.
Bitter.
“Call an ambulance.”
Dorian appeared.
“What happened?”
“Now.”
He did not question her.
The ambulance arrived within six minutes.
At the hospital doctors discovered Caleb had ingested a powerful heart medication that could dangerously slow his pulse.
Someone had replaced his vitamins.
Again, Audrey’s attention to small details saved him.
Dorian stood outside the pediatric intensive-care unit while security surrounded the floor.
Audrey emerged.
“He’s stable.”
Dorian closed his eyes.
Just once.
“Who gave him the vitamin?”
“Housekeeper.”
“Arrest her.”
“No.”
His eyes opened.
“What?”
“She opened a sealed bottle.”
“You’re certain?”
“I watched security footage.”
“Then who replaced it?”
“Someone with access before this morning.”
Dorian looked toward Nolan.
The security chief was already investigating.
Audrey stepped closer.
“This isn’t random anymore.”
“I know.”
“They’re getting desperate.”
“I know.”
“And you’re getting angry.”
Dorian’s gaze moved to her.
“You say that like it’s dangerous.”
“It is.”
“To them.”
“To everybody.”
He looked away.
“If Caleb died—”
“He didn’t.”
“If you hadn’t noticed—”
“But I did.”
Dorian’s jaw clenched.
Audrey lowered her voice.
“They want you furious.”
“Why?”
“Because angry people make predictable decisions.”
He stared at her.
The sentence landed.
Dorian was feared precisely because people knew how he responded to threats.
Directly.
Violently.
Quickly.
Someone who knew him intimately could use that.
“What would you normally do?” Audrey asked.
“Find everyone connected and make them talk.”
“Exactly.”
“And?”
“Maybe that’s what they want.”
Dorian’s eyes narrowed.
“To start a war.”
“With whom?”
They both thought of the same man.
Mateo DeLuca.
Dorian’s largest competitor along the waterfront.
Victor Shaw had once worked briefly for DeLuca after leaving the Ashford family.
Evidence had begun pointing toward him.
Too cleanly.
Audrey said, “Don’t attack DeLuca.”
Dorian almost laughed.
“You’re ordering me again.”
“Yes.”
“What should I do?”
“Something nobody expects.”
He looked at her.
“Talk to him.”
Dorian stared as if she had suggested ballet.
“Talk.”
“Yes.”
“To Mateo DeLuca.”
“Yes.”
“You understand he has attempted to put me out of business for nine years.”
“Great. You’ll have plenty to discuss.”
Dorian shook his head.
“You have absolutely no sense of self-preservation.”
“Says the man who owns bulletproof SUVs.”
That evening Dorian arranged the meeting.
Meanwhile Nolan discovered the poisoned vitamins had entered the estate inside a grocery delivery.
The delivery driver was real.
The store was real.
But someone had replaced one bag while the truck stopped at a traffic light.
Traffic-camera footage showed a motorcycle pulling alongside.
The rider wore a helmet.
On the rear of the motorcycle was a company sticker.
MERCER MARITIME.
Another company from Elena’s list.
Dorian traced ownership.
The shell corporation led through five layers.
At the sixth stood one name.
Martin Bell.
Dorian’s attorney.
The man who had served the Ashford family for twenty-one years.
Audrey stared at the result.
“Can he explain it?”
“He’ll have the opportunity.”
Dorian called Bell.
No answer.
Security went to his house.
Empty.
His office.
Empty.
His phone was found in a trash bin near the airport.
“Running,” Audrey whispered.
“Maybe.”
Dorian’s expression was hard.
“But Adrian looked like he was running too.”
Audrey understood.
No assumptions.
Not anymore.
The next morning, Caleb woke.
Audrey sat beside him.
“You scared us.”
“Sorry.”
“Remember what we discussed about things not being your fault?”
He nodded.
“Good.”
Caleb glanced toward the door.
“Dad?”
“Downstairs.”
“Is he angry?”
“Yes.”
Caleb looked frightened.
“But not at you.”
The boy relaxed slightly.
“Is Uncle Adrian bad?”
Audrey considered the safest answer.
“I don’t know.”
“He isn’t.”
“You’re sure?”
Caleb nodded.
“He tried to stop him.”
Audrey’s heart began pounding.
“Stop who?”
Caleb’s eyes widened.
He realized what he had said.
Audrey did not move.
“Caleb.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“He saw us.”
“Adrian?”
A nod.
“Where?”
“At the blue door.”
Audrey’s mind raced.
The footage had shown the unknown man and Caleb.
Maybe Adrian had witnessed the abduction.
Maybe that was why he had been taken.
“Did Uncle Adrian know who was with you?”
Caleb whispered, “Yes.”
“Then Adrian knows the name.”
Caleb nodded.
Outside the room, something crashed.
Audrey stepped into the hallway.
A nurse lay unconscious beside a medication cart.
A man in hospital scrubs disappeared through the stairwell door.
Security ran after him.
Audrey hurried back to Caleb.
On his pillow lay a folded note.
It hadn’t been there ten seconds earlier.
Caleb stared at it, trembling.
Audrey opened it.
One sentence.
THE NEXT DOSE WON’T FAIL.
Someone had just entered the most heavily guarded hospital floor in New Orleans.
May you like
And they were no longer trying to frighten Dorian.
They were trying to prove they could reach his son whenever they wanted.
