Chapter 7 - The Man Who Wore Dominic's FaceAt 11:43 p.m., Dominic Evans stood outside the old waterfront warehouse.
Rain swept across the harbor, turning the concrete ground black beneath the streetlights. Cranes towered over the docks, their skeletal arms disappearing into the fog.
Dominic had chosen not to bring an army.
He had brought Marco, two trusted men, and a device capable of transmitting everything that happened inside the building to a secure server. It was the only concession he made to Victor's demand.
He also carried the silver pendant.
The warehouse door stood open.
Inside, a single spotlight illuminated a wooden chair.
Ellie sat in it, her wrists tied loosely in front of her. Her red bicycle leaned against the wall beside her.
She looked frightened, but unhurt.
“Daddy!”
Dominic started toward her.
“Stop.”
Victor stepped from behind a steel pillar.
He looked exactly like Dominic. The same gray eyes, the same sharp jaw, the same scar near the left eyebrow. Even his black suit appeared identical.
The only obvious difference was the gold ring on his right hand.
Ellie twisted toward the sound of his voice.
“Daddy, he says I have to give him the moon.”
Victor smiled.
“She's a sweet child. Elena raised her well.”
Dominic kept his distance.
“Let her go.”
“First, the pendant.”
“Show me my sister.”
Victor tilted his head.
“Still making demands. You really haven't changed.”
“I said show me Elena.”
A second door opened behind Victor.
Two armed men appeared, dragging a woman between them.
Her hair was tangled, her face bruised, and her wrists were bound. But when she raised her head, Dominic saw the eyes he had spent seven years searching for.
“Elena.”
She looked at him.
For a moment, neither sibling moved.
Then Elena whispered, “Dominic, don't give him the pendant.”
Victor struck her across the face.
Dominic's entire body tensed.
“Touch her again,” he said quietly, “and this ends differently.”
Victor laughed.
“You see? This is why Father always preferred you. You could threaten people with a straight face.”
“Our father is dead.”
“And whose fault was that?”
The words hung between them.
Dominic felt something shift inside him.
“What are you talking about?”
Victor gestured toward Ellie.
“Ask the girl what she knows.”
Ellie shook her head frantically.
“I don't know anything!”
Victor crouched beside her.
“Your mother hid something inside the moon. She told you where it was.”
“No, she didn't.”
“Think carefully.”
Ellie squeezed her eyes shut.
Dominic took one step forward.
“She doesn't know what you're talking about.”
“Then you shouldn't mind if I frighten her a little.”
Victor reached for the child's face.
Dominic moved.
A gunshot rang through the warehouse.
Everyone froze.
One of Victor's men had fallen against a stack of wooden crates. Marco stood near the side entrance, his weapon raised.
“Get away from the child!” Marco shouted.
The warehouse erupted.
Dominic charged toward Ellie as guards scattered between the pillars. Victor grabbed the pendant from Dominic's hand during the confusion and sprinted toward the rear corridor.
Dominic reached Ellie and cut her restraints.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, then threw both arms around his neck.
“I knew you'd come.”
He held her tightly.
“I told you I would.”
“But the other daddy said you weren't real.”
Dominic pulled back enough to look at her.
“What?”
Ellie pointed toward the door where Victor had disappeared.
“He said he was my real uncle. He said you stole my family.”
Dominic's expression darkened.
“Listen to me, Ellie. There's only one thing you need to know right now.”
She stared at him.
“You are not responsible for any of this. None of it is your fault.”
Her lip trembled.
“Can we go home?”
The simplicity of the request broke his heart.
“Yes.”
He lifted her into his arms and turned toward Elena.
But Elena was gone.
The ropes lay cut on the floor. The two men who had guarded her were unconscious, and a side door stood open to the rain.
Dominic handed Ellie to Marco.
“Stay with her.”
Then he ran toward the rear corridor.
He reached the loading dock just in time to see a black vehicle disappearing into the darkness.
Victor stood beside the open rear window.
He held up the silver pendant.
And he was smiling.
Dominic raised his weapon, but Victor was already out of range.
A message appeared on Dominic's phone.
YOU SAVED THE CHILD. NOW TRY SAVING THE WOMAN WHO KNOWS WHY SHE WAS BORN.
Dominic looked back at the warehouse.
Ellie was safe.
May you like
But Elena was in Victor's hands again.
And the pendant was gone.
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