Chapter 1 - THE NAME ON THE INVOICERhea Connolly had learned three things during nursing school.
Pain made people honest.
Fear made people dangerous.
And silence usually meant someone was hiding something.
Standing inside Blackwell House at nearly midnight, she suddenly understood that the third rule was the most important.
The house was silent.
Too silent.
Not the peaceful silence of an expensive home.
The kind of silence that seemed to be waiting.
Rhea stood in the library with a file open beneath a green-shaded lamp.
She had read the invoice five times.
The result never changed.
Private medical clinic.
Prosthetic consultation.
Authorization date: forty-eight hours before the explosion that destroyed Ezra Blackwell's right arm.
Paid by Gregor Thane.
Her fingers tightened around the paper.
There was no logical explanation.
Not one that made sense.
The explosion had been classified as an industrial accident.
At the time, Ezra had been leaving a private meeting at one of Blackwell Holdings' Vancouver facilities.
A bomb had detonated beneath his vehicle.
Three security personnel had died.
Ezra had survived with catastrophic injuries.
His right arm had been amputated above the elbow.
At least, that was the official story.
Rhea looked at the invoice again.
A prosthetic consultation before the explosion meant somebody had expected Ezra to lose his arm.
Maybe even planned for it.
Footsteps sounded outside the library.
Rhea's blood went cold.
She closed the file.
The door opened.
Ezra stood there.
He was wearing a black shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows.
His left hand rested against the doorframe.
The mechanical fingers of his right arm were completely still.
His face was calm.
Far too calm.
"What did you find?" he asked.
Rhea held up the invoice.
"This."
Ezra crossed the room.
He took the paper from her.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
Then his jaw tightened.
"Where did you get this?"
"It was in your brother's financial records."
"My brother?"
"Gus."
Ezra's expression hardened.
"You went through Gus's records without permission."
"I was looking for proof that the debt was real."
"You found something much worse."
Rhea swallowed.
"You knew?"
"No."
That answer came too quickly.
She studied his face.
"You really didn't know."
Ezra looked at the invoice again.
"No."
Silence returned.
Then he walked to the fireplace.
"The clinic."
"Yes."
"Who signed it?"
"Gregor Thane."
His mechanical hand suddenly clenched.
The metallic sound echoed through the library.
Rhea took a small step backward.
"Who is Gregor Thane?"
"Chief operating officer of Blackwell Holdings."
"Your second-in-command."
"Yes."
"And your enemy?"
Ezra turned.
"I don't know."
Rhea stared at him.
For the first time since she had met him, something had cracked behind his eyes.
Not anger.
Fear.
"Lock the house," he said.
Rhea frowned.
"What?"
"Every door. Every window. Call security. Nobody enters without my approval."
"Why?"
"Because if this document is real, then someone inside my company knew I was going to be attacked."
Rhea's throat tightened.
"That means the attacker was working for you."
Ezra looked toward the hallway.
"Or still is."
A loud crash exploded somewhere downstairs.
Both of them froze.
Rhea heard glass shatter.
Ezra's body changed instantly.
The cold businessman disappeared.
The predator emerged.
"Stay here."
"What happened?"
"Someone is inside."
A gunshot tore through the house.
Rhea screamed.
Ezra grabbed her with his left hand and dragged her behind the stone wall.
Another shot.
Then another.
Security alarms began screaming.
Ezra reached beneath his shirt and pulled out a handgun.
"You said this house was heavily guarded."
"It is."
"Then how did someone get inside?"
Ezra's eyes hardened.
"That's what I'm going to find out."
The library door slammed open.
A guard stumbled inside.
Blood covered his chest.
"Mr. Blackwell..."
He collapsed.
Ezra rushed forward.
Rhea dropped beside the guard.
"He's alive."
Ezra looked at her.
"Can you save him?"
"I'm a nursing student, not a miracle worker."
"Tonight, be both."
Rhea pressed her fingers against the man's neck.
Weak pulse.
Respiratory distress.
She grabbed the medical kit from the wall.
Ezra stood over her, gun raised.
Then the lights went out.
Everything became black.
Rhea heard footsteps.
Not one person.
Several.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
"Mr. Blackwell."
Ezra went completely still.
Rhea knew that voice.
Gregor Thane.
"You're making this harder than it needs to be."
Ezra's gun lifted toward the sound.
"Gregor."
A soft laugh came from the darkness.
"You should have stayed in bed tonight."
Rhea's heart hammered.
Then the emergency lights flashed red.
For half a second, she saw Gregor standing at the end of the hall.
He wasn't holding a weapon.
He didn't need to.
Three armed men stood behind him.
Gregor looked directly at Rhea.
Then he smiled.
"Miss Connolly."
Rhea felt ice move through her veins.
"You know my name."
"I know far more than your name."
Ezra stepped in front of her.
"What do you want?"
Gregor's smile disappeared.
"The same thing I've wanted for years."
He looked at Ezra.
"Your company."
Ezra raised his gun.
Gregor moved backward.
"Kill me, and you may never know what happened to your brother."
Rhea froze.
Ezra's expression went blank.
"Where is Gus?"
Gregor's eyes shifted toward Rhea.
"Ask her."
Then the fire alarm erupted.
Water exploded from the ceiling sprinklers.
The corridor became chaos.
When the lights returned, Gregor was gone.
So were his men.
Ezra stood motionless in the soaked hallway.
Rhea looked at him.
"You said Gus was safe."
"He was."
"Was?"
Ezra lowered his gun.
"I don't know anymore."
Rhea stared at him.
"And Gregor knows where he is."
Ezra nodded.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
A video appeared on the screen.
Rhea stepped closer.
She saw Gus.
Bound.
Bruised.
Alive.
A voice whispered through the phone.
"Bring us the girl."
Ezra's eyes moved toward Rhea.
The call ended.
Rhea felt her stomach drop.
"What girl?"
May you like
Ezra looked at her.
"You."
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