Chapter 4 - THE CHILD'S DRAWING OF THE SCARRED MAN
Dante stared at the crayon drawing.
The scarred man. Julian Thorne.
“My wife died in a burning car on Interstate 90,” Dante said. His voice was entirely devoid of emotion, a defense mechanism against the horror rising in his throat.
“The police found her dental records.”
Harper shook her head.
“Caroline paid the medical examiner. It was a cover-up.”
Dante looked down at Caroline, who was groaning, slowly waking up on the closet floor.
“Why?” Dante whispered. “Why go through all of that?”
“Because your wife found out Caroline was stealing from the syndicate’s offshore accounts,” Harper said. “Caroline panicked. She called Julian Thorne. They staged the accident, took your wife, and Julian kept her.”
Dante’s chest tightened so painfully he could barely breathe.
“For seven years?”
“No,” Harper said softly, tears pooling in her eyes. “She passed away three years ago. From illness. My mother was the hospice nurse Julian hired to keep her quiet. She snuck that bracelet out to prove the truth, but Julian threatened to kill me if my mother ever spoke.”
Dante closed his eyes.
His wife hadn't betrayed him. She hadn't run away. She had been stolen.
And the woman who helped steal her was currently bleeding on his floor.
Dante looked down at Caroline.
She was awake now, staring up at him with pure terror.
“Dante,” she gagged, struggling against the zip ties. “She’s lying! The nanny is lying!”
Dante didn't yell. He didn't scream.
He slowly knelt beside Caroline.
He placed the child’s drawing on the floor in front of her face.
“Did you open the gate, Caroline?”
“No! I swear!”
Dante stood up.
He looked at Harper.
“Go to the study. Sophie is in the panic room behind the bookshelf. Lock yourselves inside. Do not come out.”
Harper didn't argue. She turned and ran down the hall.
Dante dragged Caroline by her bound feet out of the closet and into the center of the master bedroom.
He checked his watch.
Rocco was drugged. The perimeter was open.
And the transport van was waiting at the service gate.
Dante’s phone buzzed in his pocket.
An unknown number.
He answered it and put it on speaker.
“Dante,” a raspy, scarred voice echoed through the bedroom.
Julian Thorne.
“Julian,” Dante replied smoothly.
“I hear my transport van has been waiting for twenty minutes. Where is Caroline?”
“Caroline is currently tied to my floor,” Dante said.
Silence on the other end.
Then, Julian laughed.
“A shame. She was very useful. But I suppose I don't need her anymore.”
“You’re not getting my daughter, Julian.”
“Oh, Dante. You think this is about the girl?”
Dante frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
“I don't want a seven-year-old child,” Julian sneered. “I want what your dead wife left inside the girl’s favorite toy.”
Dante looked at the door.
Sophie’s stuffed rabbit.
“Caroline was supposed to bring me the rabbit,” Julian said. “Since she failed, my men are already inside your house. They just breached the study.”
Dante’s blood turned to ice.
Harper and Sophie were in the study.
“If you touch them,” Dante roared, sprinting toward the door, “I will burn you alive!”
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He burst into the hallway, just as a deafening gunshot echoed from the first floor.
TITLE: THE ROSARY WRAPPED AROUND THE RABBIT
