Chapter 9 - Sadie couldn't breathe.Someone had photographed her inside her apartment.
That meant the enemy hadn't just found her.
He had been near her for years.
Dominic took the phone.
“How long have you lived in that apartment?”
“Three years.”
“Who knew?”
“My landlord. Carl. Maybe my coworkers.”
“Your mother?”
“She's dead.”
Dominic froze.
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
“Natural causes?”
“Yes.”
Elena took the phone.
“This photograph was taken from inside.”
Sadie shook her head.
“That's impossible.”
“Not impossible.”
Gabriel pointed toward the ceiling.
“Cameras.”
Dominic looked up.
“There.”
A tiny lens sat inside the smoke detector.
Sadie covered her mouth.
“How long?”
Dominic stepped closer.
He examined it.
“Months.”
She stared.
“Someone has been watching me for months.”
“No.”
Dominic removed the device.
“Someone has been watching you for years.”
He turned it over.
A serial number was engraved on the back.
V-17.
Elena went pale.
“What?”
Dominic looked at her.
“You know that number.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
Elena swallowed.
“V-17 was a surveillance program.”
“Whose?”
“The Voss family.”
Marcus stiffened.
“My family?”
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“Your father's.”
The room went quiet.
Marcus stared at her.
“My father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then who controls it?”
Elena looked at Sadie.
“The person who inherited everything.”
Sadie whispered:
“Who?”
Elena's answer was interrupted by a gunshot.
The window shattered.
Dominic shoved Sadie to the floor.
Gabriel dragged Marcus behind a pillar.
Another shot.
Then another.
Dominic crawled toward the corridor.
“Three shooters.”
Gabriel looked through the broken window.
“Four.”
Dominic stared.
“How do you know?”
“Because one of them is inside.”
A shadow moved behind Sadie.
She screamed.
A man grabbed her.
Dominic fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside them.
Sadie kicked backward.
The attacker stumbled.
Gabriel slammed into him.
The man hit the floor.
Dominic pulled off his mask.
Sadie recognized him.
She nearly fainted.
“Carl.”
Her manager.
The man who had hired her.
The man who had worked at Lombardi's for eight years.
Carl spat blood.
“You shouldn't have found out.”
Dominic grabbed his collar.
“Who do you work for?”
Carl smiled.
“She's already dead.”
Sadie frowned.
“Who?”
Carl looked at her.
“Your mother.”
Then he swallowed a small capsule.
Dominic's expression changed.
“Stop him!”
Too late.
Carl convulsed.
Dead.
Sadie backed away.
“My mother died seven years ago.”
Elena stared at the body.
“Did she?”
“What are you saying?”
Elena pointed to the camera in Carl's pocket.
“Look.”
Dominic activated it.
A video file opened.
A woman appeared onscreen.
Sadie's mother.
Older.
Alive.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Sadie.”
Sadie began crying.
Her mother continued.
“I know you're going to find this.”
She paused.
“I need you to understand something.”
A tear rolled down Sadie's face.
“I didn't abandon you.”
She looked frightened.
“I ran because they were looking for all four children.”
Sadie's breath stopped.
Her mother whispered:
“If you're watching this, one of your brothers has already found you.”
The video cut.
Then a final sentence appeared.
DO NOT TRUST DOMINIC RUSSO.
Sadie looked up.
Dominic was standing directly in front of her.
His face was unreadable.
She whispered:
“Why did my mother tell me not to trust you?”
May you like
Dominic stared at her.
“Because she was right.”
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