Chapter 8 - THE FATHER WHO TOOK HIS OWN CHILDREN
Lena had never hated her body until that morning.
She hated the weakness in her legs.
The incision across her abdomen.
The dizziness that came whenever she stood too fast.
She hated every second it took the elevator to reach the lobby.
“My babies.”
Damon pushed her wheelchair while Detective Vega called the hospital.
“Nobody enters or leaves,” Vega ordered. “Lock down every exit.”
Police sirens were already approaching outside.
Lena's phone rang.
Victor.
She answered immediately.
“Where are they?”
His voice was calm.
“Hello, Lena.”
“Where are Emma and Sophie?”
“You humiliated me.”
“I don't care.”
“You took my company.”
“You tried to kill me.”
“I built that company.”
“You inherited half of it and gambled the rest.”
Silence.
Damon crouched beside Lena, trying to hear.
Victor spoke again.
“Do you know how many people owe me money?”
Lena almost laughed.
“You mean how many people you owe.”
His voice sharpened.
“Careful.”
“Where are my daughters?”
“They're safe.”
“Let me hear them.”
Victor hesitated.
Then Lena heard crying.
Tiny.
Weak.
Sophie's cry.
Lena broke.
“Victor, please.”
Damon closed his eyes.
Victor's voice softened.
“Now you remember how to ask nicely.”
“What do you want?”
“The board resolution reversed.”
“Done.”
Damon stared at her.
She put up one finger.
Anything to keep Victor talking.
“And?”
“Transfer your voting shares to a trust I control.”
“Done.”
“And you publicly state that the freezer was an accident.”
Lena swallowed.
“If I do that, you bring them back?”
“Yes.”
“You swear?”
Victor laughed.
“We both know what my promises are worth.”
The call ended.
Damon stood.
“He won't return them.”
“I know.”
Vega's phone rang.
She listened.
“The twins are gone.”
Lena bent forward as if struck.
“How?”
“Victor used a hospital laundry cart. Security footage shows him exiting through a service dock seven minutes before lockdown.”
Damon cursed.
“Vehicle?”
“Stolen ambulance.”
A statewide alert went out.
Within twenty minutes, every major road was being monitored.
But Victor abandoned the ambulance beneath an overpass.
No twins.
No Victor.
Only two empty blankets.
Lena refused to cry.
Not yet.
“Think,” Damon said.
“What?”
“He planned this before this morning.”
“Yes.”
“So where would he go?”
“He can't use airports.”
“No.”
“He needs somewhere private.”
Lena looked at Natalie.
Her sister had accompanied them under police supervision.
“Monday,” Lena whispered.
Natalie frowned.
“What?”
“You said he kept talking about Monday before we knew about the board meeting.”
“Yes.”
“Was there anything else?”
Natalie shook her head.
Then stopped.
“A boat.”
Damon looked at her.
“What boat?”
“He asked Calvin about fuel.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Lena suddenly remembered.
Victor's uncle had owned an old marina property on Lake Michigan.
Carter Point.
Mostly abandoned.
Victor used it occasionally for private parties.
Damon was already calling Vega.
Police surrounded Carter Point Marina at 11:42 a.m.
The property contained three warehouses, a repair shed and a long pier extending into gray winter water.
A forty-foot cabin cruiser was tied at the end.
Engine running.
Victor stood aboard.
One infant carrier sat near the cabin door.
Lena's heart stopped.
Only one.
“Where's the other baby?”
Damon grabbed binoculars.
“I only see one.”
A police negotiator began speaking through a loudspeaker.
Victor responded by calling Lena.
She answered.
“Where is Emma?”
“Safe.”
“And Sophie?”
“Safe.”
“I only see one carrier.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn't have taken so long.”
Lena's voice broke.
“Victor.”
“I told you what I wanted.”
“I'll sign anything.”
“Come aboard.”
Damon shook his head violently.
“No.”
Victor heard him.
“Is Damon there?”
“Yes.”
“Of course he is.”
A bitter laugh.
“He always is.”
“Victor, listen to me.”
“No, you listen.”
His voice changed.
For the first time, Lena heard desperation rather than calculation.
“They're coming for me. Calvin disappeared. Natalie talked. The company is gone.”
“Then surrender.”
“I'll spend the rest of my life in prison.”
“You should have thought about that before putting me in a freezer.”
“I didn't mean for the babies to come early.”
Lena stared at the boat.
“You knew I was pregnant.”
“I needed the insurance.”
“You were willing to kill your own daughters.”
Silence.
That silence was answer enough.
Damon took Lena's hand.
Victor said, “Come onto the pier alone.”
Police objected immediately.
Lena insisted.
She rolled herself as far as the wheelchair could go, then stood.
Damon caught her arm.
“I have to.”
“He wants control.”
“He has my daughters.”
“You almost died three days ago.”
“And they are why I didn't.”
He had no answer.
Lena walked onto the pier.
Every step hurt.
Wind blew across the lake.
Victor watched her approach.
“Stop there.”
She did.
“Where are the twins?”
Victor lifted the carrier.
Emma cried.
Lena nearly collapsed with relief.
“And Sophie?”
“In the cabin.”
“I want to see her.”
“No.”
“She needs oxygen support.”
“She has a portable tank.”
“You don't know how to use it.”
“Neither did you three days ago.”
Lena looked at the man she had married.
She searched for any trace of the charming, ambitious businessman she had once loved.
There was none.
Only fear wearing Victor's face.
“You don't have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“You can surrender.”
“And lose everything?”
“You already lost everything.”
Victor's expression twisted.
“No.”
He looked past her.
“There's one thing Damon still wants.”
Lena understood too late.
Victor raised a handgun from behind the carrier.
Police shouted.
Damon ran onto the pier.
Victor pointed the weapon directly at him.
“You.”
Damon stopped.
“Put the gun down.”
Victor laughed.
“You've been waiting five years for her.”
“This isn't about me.”
“It was always about you.”
“No, Victor.”
Damon slowly raised his hands.
“This is about the fact that you couldn't stand anyone loving Lena without owning her.”
Victor's face changed.
Damon continued.
“You stole money because you wanted her dependent on you.”
“Shut up.”
“You framed me because she trusted me.”
“Shut up!”
“You married her because winning mattered more than loving her.”
Victor stepped forward.
“And now?”
Damon looked at Lena.
“Now she finally sees you.”
Victor swung the gun toward Lena.
Damon moved.
The gun fired.
Lena screamed.
Damon crashed into Victor.
Both men hit the deck.
The infant carrier tipped sideways.
Lena ran.
She caught it before it fell.
Police stormed the pier.
Victor and Damon fought beside the railing.
A second shot exploded.
Victor slipped.
For one second he hung over the water, gripping Damon's wrist.
Damon could have released him.
Victor knew it.
Their eyes met.
“Do it,” Victor whispered.
Damon looked at the freezing lake below.
Then he pulled Victor upward.
Police seized him.
Victor screamed as officers cuffed him.
Damon stumbled backward.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Lena stared.
“No.”
He had been shot.
She reached him before he fell.
“Damon.”
“Babies.”
“They're here.”
“Both?”
Police brought Sophie from the cabin.
Alive.
Breathing.
Lena began sobbing.
“Both.”
Damon smiled weakly.
“Good.”
Then his eyes closed.
“Damon!”
Paramedics rushed forward.
As they lifted him onto a stretcher, Lena clutched both daughters against her chest.
Victor was dragged past in handcuffs.
For the first time, he looked at his children.
Emma cried.
Victor said nothing.
Lena looked him directly in the eyes.
“You wanted six million dollars.”
Victor stopped.
“You lost your wife.”
Police pulled him forward.
“Your daughters.”
Another step.
“Your company.”
And finally:
“Your freedom.”
Victor disappeared into the police vehicle.
But Lena barely noticed.
Because the ambulance carrying Damon had already begun pulling away.
May you like
And after everything they had survived, she suddenly realized she might lose the man who had come back into a frozen warehouse and refused to leave her behind.
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