Chapter 5
“Mom?”
My voice barely came out.
She stared at the metal case.
“I’m sorry.”
Ryan took the control unit from her.
Diane placed an arm around Mom’s shoulders as if they were friends.
“She made the intelligent choice.”
“What did they threaten you with?” I asked.
Mom’s eyes lifted to mine.
“Sophie.”
My younger sister was supposed to be studying in Boston.
Mom had received a video that morning.
Sophie was tied to a chair inside an empty room.
Ryan’s people had taken her outside her apartment.
“If I didn’t bring the control unit, they said they would kill her,” Mom whispered.
Ryan smiled.
“She finally understands how family works.”
Rage replaced my shock.
“You planned all of this before you touched me last night.”
“I knew you were going to leave me.”
“So you beat me?”
“I needed you to activate the ring. Your father’s response helped us identify the security network.”
The assault had been deliberate.
Ryan had used my pain to test Dad’s system.
Diane opened a laptop and connected the control unit.
“Where is the master key?” she asked.
Mom shook her head.
“Daniel never showed me.”
Diane slapped her.
I moved forward, but Ryan tightened his arm around my throat.
“Do that again,” I warned, “and you won’t leave this house.”
Diane laughed.
“You sound like your father.”
“No,” I said. “I sound like the woman your son failed to break.”
Victor finally pulled one hand free.
He moved fast.
He grabbed the chair and swung it into Ryan’s legs.
Ryan stumbled.
I drove my elbow into his ribs and twisted away from the knife.
Victor tackled him.
The two men crashed into the table.
Mom grabbed the knife from the floor.
Diane reached into her purse.
A gun appeared in her hand.
“Stop!”
Everyone froze.
Diane pointed the weapon at me.
Ryan shoved Victor away and stood.
His face was twisted with fury.
“You should have stayed on the floor.”
He took the gun from his mother.
Then he pressed it against Victor’s head.
“Tell Daniel to bring the master key to the old Carter warehouse.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“He’ll never trade it for me.”
“Maybe not.”
Ryan pointed the gun at Mom.
“But he might trade it for his wife.”
My hidden listening device was still transmitting.
Dad had heard everything.
Ryan did not know that.
I needed to give him time to reach Sophie.
“Where are you holding my sister?” I asked.
Ryan smiled.
“You think I’m stupid?”
“I think you’re scared.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You needed Evan to erase the recording. You needed my mother to steal the control unit. You needed your mother to point a gun because you couldn’t control the room.”
Ryan struck me with the back of his hand.
Pain exploded across my cheek.
But I had made him angry.
Angry people made mistakes.
Victor lunged again.
The gun fired.
Mom screamed.
Victor fell.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Ryan stared at him.
For the first time, he looked shocked by what he had done.
I dropped beside Victor and pressed both hands against the wound.
“He needs an ambulance.”
Ryan grabbed the metal case.
Diane pulled Mom toward the back door.
“You’re coming with us.”
“No!” I shouted.
Mom fought, but Diane struck her with the gun.
Ryan looked down at me.
“Tell your father he has two hours.”
Then they dragged Mom outside.
I heard their car race away.
A second later, Dad and Marcus entered through the front.
Dad saw Victor on the floor.
Then he saw that Mom was gone.
“Where are they taking her?”
“The old warehouse.”
Marcus called for an ambulance.
Dad knelt beside his brother.
Victor’s breathing was shallow.
“I’m sorry,” Victor whispered.
Dad pressed his hands over mine, trying to stop the bleeding.
“Save your strength.”
“I gave Ryan her name.”
“I know.”
“I thought I could control him.”
Dad looked at him with tears in his eyes.
“You used my daughter to save yourself.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“I deserve this.”
“No,” I said. “You deserve to live long enough to face what you did.”
Paramedics arrived and rushed Victor to the hospital.
Dad wanted me to stay behind.
I refused.
“Mom and Sophie are my family too.”
“This is my responsibility.”
“Ryan was my husband.”
Dad turned away.
I grabbed his arm.
“You trained me to fight. You gave me that ring. You taught me never to abandon people I love.”
“I also taught you to recognize danger.”
“I recognize it.”
“Then why are you still coming?”
“Because Ryan still believes I’m the frightened wife he controlled.”
May you like
I picked up his discarded belt.
“And that is the last mistake he’ll ever make.”
