Chapter 6 - THE ROOM BENEATH THE OLD CHURCH
I woke with my wrists tied to a metal chair.
My head felt split open.
The room smelled like damp concrete.
Old wood.
Incense.
A church basement.
I knew because my mother had dragged me to enough Sunday services growing up.
Across from me sat a young man with blood on his shirt.
Maybe twenty.
Dark curls.
One eye swollen shut.
“You Emily?”
His voice was weak.
“Who are you?”
“Noah Reed.”
My fear sharpened.
Nathan’s son.
“You’re alive.”
“Debatable.”
I looked toward his side.
Blood soaked beneath his ribs.
Not gunshot.
Knife wound, maybe.
“How long?”
“What?”
“Since you were hurt.”
“Couple hours.”
I shifted.
The chair was bolted down.
“Can you breathe deeply?”
He tried.
Winced.
“Yes.”
Good.
No obvious collapsed lung.
“Any dizziness?”
“Yes.”
Not good.
Footsteps approached.
A man entered.
Sixties.
Silver hair.
Elegant coat.
Wolf ring.
Gabriel Vale.
Even if nobody had told me, I would have known.
He had Dominic’s eyes without Dominic’s restraint.
“So.”
He smiled.
“The waitress.”
I said nothing.
“You caused a remarkable amount of trouble.”
“I made grilled cheese.”
His smile disappeared.
Good.
“You should have called police.”
“The girls were afraid of phones.”
“Children are inconveniently observant.”
He crouched.
“Did Lily tell you what she heard?”
“Yes.”
Lie.
Some.
Not everything.
“What?”
“That you’re a psycho.”
Noah made a weak laughing sound.
Gabriel slapped me.
My head snapped sideways.
Pain exploded.
“Again.”
I looked back at him.
“The girls said their dad would find them.”
Gabriel’s eyes darkened.
“And?”
“They were right.”
He stood.
“You think Dominic is coming?”
“Yes.”
“He should.”
That frightened me.
“You want him here.”
“Of course.”
The attack on the safe house.
My kidnapping.
Not improvisation.
A lure.
“What happens when he arrives?”
Gabriel smiled.
“He loses both things he believes he saved.”
Me and Noah?
No.
The girls?
My stomach dropped.
“Where are Lily and Grace?”
“Safe.”
I didn’t believe him.
“They weren’t taken?”
“Not tonight.”
Relief hit painfully.
Gabriel continued.
“Dominic knows they’re secure with Julian.”
“Then why me?”
“Because he cares.”
I laughed.
“You’ve misunderstood our relationship.”
“Have I?”
“Yes.”
“You should see how he looked when they dragged you into the van.”
That disturbed me.
Gabriel walked toward Noah.
“Nathan Reed betrayed me.”
“You kidnapped his son.”
“Details.”
He grabbed Noah’s hair.
The boy grunted.
“His father gave Dominic enough truth to become inconvenient.”
“Leave him alone.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Why?”
“He’s bleeding.”
“Yes.”
“He needs a hospital.”
“No.”
“Then let me help him.”
Gabriel smiled.
“You are not a nurse.”
“Almost.”
That made him laugh.
Eventually he cut the rope around one of my wrists.
“Keep him alive.”
Then he left.
Idiot.
He had underestimated nursing-school dropouts.
I waited until the door locked.
Then used my free hand to loosen the other knot.
Noah whispered, “Can you get us out?”
“Maybe.”
He had a deep laceration beneath his ribs.
Slow venous bleeding.
No obvious organ exposure.
I tore a strip from my shirt and packed pressure against it.
He groaned.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“Good.”
We searched the room.
Old storage shelves.
Cleaning products.
Broken furniture.
A first-aid kit with gauze and tape.
Miracle.
No phone.
One tiny basement window too narrow for adults.
But maybe sound.
Above us, faint bells rang.
A church still in use.
I looked at Noah.
“Do you know where we are?”
“No.”
I climbed onto a crate.
Through the window I saw snow.
A parking lot.
A sign.
Only half visible.
ST. BRIG—
“St. Bridget.”
Noah frowned.
“There are three in Chicago.”
“Great.”
Then I heard trains.
Close.
Elevated.
St. Bridget near the Green Line?
My diner neighborhood knowledge finally mattered.
“There’s one near Ashland.”
Noah stared.
“How do we tell anyone?”
The first-aid kit contained an emergency foil blanket.
Reflective.
I smiled.
“Maybe we don’t tell them.”
“What?”
“We make somebody look.”
The window opened two inches.
Enough.
I tore the blanket into strips and pushed them through the gap.
Silver pieces fluttered outside.
Not much.
But unnatural enough.
Then we waited.
Gabriel returned with a phone.
He placed it on speaker.
Dominic.
“Emily.”
His voice came through immediately.
Relief nearly destroyed me.
“I’m here.”
“Are you hurt?”
“My head hurts.”
“Anything else?”
“Noah’s injured.”
Silence.
Then Reed’s voice in the background.
“My son?”
Noah leaned toward the phone.
“Dad.”
Nathan made a sound.
Gabriel smiled.
“Touching.”
Dominic’s voice became cold.
“What do you want?”
“Pier Sixteen.”
My stomach dropped.
Shipping territory.
“You sign Vale Atlantic’s transfer authority to Vincent.”
Dominic laughed.
“No.”
Gabriel held a gun toward Noah.
I shouted.
“Dominic!”
Silence.
Gabriel said, “You have one hour.”
Dominic’s voice changed.
“Fine.”
I stared at the phone.
No.
Gabriel smiled.
“Good boy.”
The call ended.
“You think you won,” I said.
“I did.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Dominic won’t come alone.”
“He must.”
“He’s smarter than you.”
Gabriel slapped me again.
Then left.
Noah whispered, “He’s going to kill us anyway.”
“Yes.”
“You sound calm.”
“I’m pretending.”
Thirty minutes later, we heard movement above.
Gabriel’s men.
Preparing.
Then someone outside shouted.
“What the hell is that?”
Silver strips.
Someone had noticed.
I looked at Noah.
Footsteps crossed the parking lot.
Closer.
A woman’s voice.
“Hello?”
I climbed.
“HELP!”
Gunfire exploded upstairs.
Wrong person.
Gabriel’s men had fired.
The woman screamed.
Then sirens.
Sometimes salvation arrives because a church volunteer notices aluminum foil in the snow.
Chaos erupted.
Gabriel rushed into the basement.
“You stupid—”
I threw the first-aid box at his face.
He fired.
The bullet hit concrete.
Noah lunged from his chair.
Gabriel kicked him down.
Then the basement door exploded inward.
Dominic came through first.
Of course he did.
His gun aimed at Gabriel.
For one second, uncle and nephew stared at each other.
Gabriel smiled.
“You always were predictable.”
Dominic’s voice was almost calm.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I’m learning.”
Police shouted from upstairs.
Federal agents followed.
Dominic had not brought an army.
He had brought law enforcement.
Gabriel’s face finally changed.
“You involved federal police?”
“You kidnapped children.”
“You’re a Vale.”
“Not tonight.”
Gabriel raised his gun toward me.
Dominic fired once.
Gabriel fell.
Alive.
Shoulder wound.
Agents rushed him.
Dominic reached me.
His hands went to my face.
Then stopped before touching.
“Can I?”
The question nearly broke me.
I nodded.
He touched my cheek carefully.
“You’re bleeding.”
“So is Noah.”
That snapped him back.
Medics rushed in.
Noah was carried out.
He lived.
The knife had missed major organs.
Nathan Reed met the stretcher outside and collapsed beside his son.
Dominic stood with me beneath flashing ambulance lights.
“You signed the transfer?”
“No.”
“He thought you did.”
“I sent a forgery.”
I stared.
“That seems criminal.”
“Please don’t tell my attorneys.”
I laughed.
Then cried.
His expression changed.
“Emily.”
“I’m okay.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You’re not.”
Maybe that was the moment I started trusting him.
May you like
Not when he saved me.
When he refused to pretend rescue erased what happened.
