Chapter 6 - THE DIAMOND NECKLACE
The air in the apartment turned to ice.
Elias stared at the image of the diamond necklace on my phone screen, his composure shattering. The untouchable billionaire suddenly looked like a grieving husband.
“She stole Sarah’s necklace,” Elias choked out, his hand trembling as he gripped his cane. “The money was one thing. But she breached my private vault.”
“They have my daughter, Mr. Calder,” I said, my voice dropping to a fierce, desperate whisper. The panic had burned away, replaced by a maternal rage so hot it felt like fire in my veins. “I don’t care about the money. I don’t care about the vault. I am getting Mia back.”
I grabbed the silver pocket watch from the table and shoved it into my pocket alongside Vanessa’s boarding ticket.
“Thomas,” Elias barked, his eyes hardening into steel. “Get the car. We are going to the warehouse.”
“The text said to come alone,” I argued, stepping in front of Elias.
“You think Vanessa Price plays by the rules?” Elias countered fiercely. “She’s a cornered animal holding twelve million dollars and my wife’s legacy. You walk in there alone, Lily, you don’t walk out.”
Ten minutes later, I was sitting in the back of a bulletproof black Maybach, speeding through the neon-lit streets of Chicago. Thomas drove with terrifying precision, the massive engine roaring silently. Elias sat beside me, his eyes closed, his hands steepled over his cane.
The old warehouse district near Navy Pier was desolate at this hour. Rain had started to fall, slicking the cobblestone streets and casting long, distorted shadows under the flickering streetlights.
Thomas cut the headlights a block away, gliding the heavy car into an alleyway.
“I’ll take the perimeter,” Thomas said quietly, pulling a heavy, matte-black handgun from his shoulder holster. “Give me three minutes before you walk through the front door.”
I didn’t wait. The second Thomas melted into the shadows, I stepped out into the rain.
The warehouse was a cavernous, rotting structure of brick and rusted steel. The massive loading doors were cracked open just enough for a person to slip through.
I took a deep breath, clutching the silver watch in my pocket, and walked inside.
The smell of motor oil and damp earth hit me instantly. A single, harsh halogen work light illuminated the center of the massive room.
Tied to a wooden chair in the center of the light was Mason.
His face was bruised, a split lip leaking blood onto his white t-shirt. But his eyes were clear, and the moment he saw me, a mixture of profound relief and absolute terror washed over his face.
“Lily, no,” Mason groaned, struggling against the heavy zip-ties binding his wrists. “I told you to stay away!”
Standing behind him was the man with the jagged red scar, holding a suppressed pistol casually at his side.
And stepping out of the shadows, wearing a pristine white trench coat that looked absurd in the filthy warehouse, was Vanessa Price.
Around her neck, catching the harsh halogen light, was the stolen diamond necklace.
“I told you to come alone,” Vanessa said, her voice dripping with the same entitled venom she had used at the restaurant.
“I am alone,” I lied, keeping my voice steady. “Where is my daughter, Vanessa?”
“She’s sleeping in the SUV,” Vanessa said, waving a manicured hand dismissively. “She’s fine. I don’t hurt children, Lily. I just want what belongs to me. Do you have the ticket?”
I pulled the heavy cardstock from my pocket and held it up.
Vanessa smiled. It was a cold, reptilian expression. “Good. Now the watch. Mason was stupid enough to hide the decryption key for his little audit files inside that antique piece of junk.”
She held out her hand.
I took a step forward. “Let Mason go, and you can have both.”
“That’s not how a negotiation works, sweetie,” Vanessa laughed.
Suddenly, the rusted metal door at the back of the warehouse shrieked open.
Vanessa’s head snapped up, her smile vanishing. The scarred man raised his gun.
Footsteps echoed on the concrete. Heavy, deliberate footsteps.
A figure stepped into the edge of the light.
It wasn’t Thomas. It wasn’t Elias.
It was Charles Price.
Vanessa let out a sigh of relief. “Daddy! Thank God. I told you I had it under control. We get the watch, we catch the flight, and we’re clear.”
But Charles wasn’t looking at Mason. And he wasn’t looking at me.
He was looking at his daughter with a horror so deep it seemed to age him ten years in a second.
“You didn’t just steal the money, Vanessa,” Charles whispered, his voice trembling. “You stole Sarah Calder’s necklace.”
Vanessa frowned, touching the diamonds at her throat. “It’s just leverage, Dad. Who cares?”
May you like
Charles pulled a gun from his coat and aimed it directly at his own daughter.
“I care,” Charles choked out, tears shining in his eyes. “Because Elias Calder didn’t just call me tonight to fire me. He called me to tell me that if I don’t bring you in myself, his security team is going to execute us both.”
