Chapter 8 - The RecordingThe recording spread across the city before they could stop it.
A dark warehouse.
Daniel tied to a chair.
Leo standing behind him.
Victor beside him.
And another man in the shadows.
Lorenzo watched the screen.
He couldn't see the man's face.
But he could hear his voice.
“You should have stayed out of this.”
Daniel coughed.
“You'll never control it.”
Victor laughed.
“We already do.”
Daniel looked directly into the camera.
“If Nora sees this, tell her I never betrayed her.”
Then Leo stepped forward.
He raised a gun.
The recording cut to black.
Nora covered her mouth.
“That can't be everything.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“No.”
He replayed it.
Again.
Again.
Then he noticed something.
Behind Daniel was a clock.
11:17.
The same number as the key.
“Stop.”
He paused the footage.
There was writing on the wall.
A partial word.
RAVEN.
Lorenzo stared.
His security chief entered.
“We traced the upload.”
“Where?”
“An old broadcasting station.”
Nora looked at him.
“That's where Leo is.”
They arrived thirty minutes later.
The building was empty.
Too empty.
Lorenzo knew immediately.
“It’s a trap.”
Then every screen inside the building turned on.
Leo appeared.
Smiling.
“Lorenzo.”
Lorenzo's hand tightened.
“Where is Nora's pendant?”
Leo laughed.
“You still think this is about jewelry?”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
Lorenzo stepped forward.
“You're wasting your time.”
Leo's smile widened.
“No.”
The camera shifted.
Nora's mother appeared on screen.
Then Claire.
Then Lorenzo's security chief.
All bound.
Nora gasped.
Leo spoke calmly.
“You have ten minutes.”
“For what?”
“To decide which one of them dies.”
A timer appeared.
09:59
Nora grabbed Lorenzo's arm.
“Don't.”
He looked at her.
“I have to.”
“No.”
“You're not giving me a choice.”
Leo's voice came through the speakers.
“She always does this.”
“What?”
“She makes men believe they can save her.”
Nora stared at the screen.
Leo smiled.
“But you should ask yourself something, Lorenzo.”
“What?”
“Why was your father at Daniel's murder?”
The timer kept running.
08:41
Lorenzo's expression changed.
Leo continued.
“Because he wasn't there to stop it.”
Lorenzo looked at Nora.
She was crying.
May you like
Then Leo said the sentence that shattered everything.
“He was there to hand Daniel over.”
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