Chapter 3 - THE TORN TICKET
Vanessa stepped fully into the mudroom and locked the door behind her.
The heavy click echoed like a gunshot.
She held out her hand.
“The phone. Now.”
Mrs. Carter’s hands trembled, but she didn’t hand it over.
“Vanessa, please. You’re crossing a line. Kidnapping a child—”
“It’s not kidnapping,” Vanessa interrupted sharply. “It’s collateral. Luca took my father’s life away. I’m taking his legacy. Give me the phone.”
I backed against the wall, clutching the silver locket.
My cheek throbbed violently.
I thought about the twenty-six guests sitting just down the hall. They were eating roasted vegetables. Drinking wine. Toasting to a future that was entirely fake.
“Luca is waiting for you,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “If you don’t go back to the table, he’ll come looking.”
Vanessa let out a dry, humorless laugh.
“Let him look. By the time he realizes what’s happening, Mercer will be out of state.”
She lunged forward, snatching the burner phone from Mrs. Carter’s terrified grip.
As she pulled away, something slipped from her silk clutch.
It fluttered to the tile floor.
A torn piece of heavy cardstock.
Vanessa cursed under her breath and bent to grab it, but I was closer. I dropped to my knees and snatched it first.
It was a train ticket.
Union Station.
Departing at 11:45 P.M.
Tonight.
Destination: Montreal.
Vanessa’s eyes flashed with pure, unhinged rage.
“Give that back.”
“You’re leaving tonight,” I breathed, the pieces finally snapping together. “You were never going to marry him. The engagement dinner was an alibi.”
“It was a distraction,” she corrected. “Luca has thirty guards patrolling this property right now. Nobody is watching the train station. Nobody is watching Elena’s house.”
She took a step toward me.
“You’ve been a nuisance since the moment you started working here, Olivia. Always watching. Always listening.”
She reached into her clutch again.
My stomach plummeted.
When her hand emerged, she was holding a small, silver handgun.
Mrs. Carter gasped and covered her mouth.
I froze.
I had never looked down the barrel of a gun before. It looked impossibly dark. Impossibly final.
“Vanessa,” I whispered. “You don’t want to do this.”
“I really don’t,” she agreed softly. “But William is waiting for me. And he has the boy. I just need thirty minutes to get out of the city.”
She pointed the gun at my chest.
“Turn around. Both of you. Put your hands on the wall.”
Mrs. Carter sobbed quietly, turning her face to the wood paneling.
I didn’t move.
“I said turn around!” Vanessa snapped.
“If you shoot me, Luca will hear it,” I said.
My voice was shaking, but I forced myself to hold her gaze.
“The dining room is fifty feet away. You’ll never make it out the back door.”
Vanessa’s finger tightened on the trigger.
“I’ll take my chances.”
Suddenly, the handle of the mudroom door rattled.
Someone pulled hard.
Then a heavy fist pounded on the wood.
“Vanessa.”
It was Luca.
His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a weight that made the floorboards feel like they were vibrating.
“Open the door.”
Vanessa’s eyes widened in panic.
She looked at the door. Then at me.
“Say nothing,” she hissed, aiming the gun directly at my face.
“Vanessa,” Luca called again. “Daniel told me you didn’t return to the table. Open the door.”
“Just a minute, darling!” she called back, her voice instantly transforming into the light, breezy tone of a happy bride-to-be. “My zipper caught on the silk!”
She stepped backward toward the exterior staff door that led to the driveway.
She kept the gun trained on me.
“Not a word,” she mouthed.
She reached behind her, twisting the deadbolt on the exterior door.
The cool night air rushed in.
Before I could react, she slipped out into the darkness and slammed the heavy metal door shut behind her.
I stood paralyzed for two agonizing seconds.
Then I turned and unlocked the interior door.
Luca pushed his way in, Daniel right behind him.
Luca’s eyes swept the room.
He saw Mrs. Carter crying against the wall.
He saw my pale, bruised face.
And he saw the exterior door swinging slightly in the wind.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
I held up the torn train ticket.
“Union Station. 11:45.”
Luca snatched the ticket. His jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth might shatter.
“She has a gun,” I added quickly. “And Mr. Moretti… she has your son.”
Luca didn’t yell. He didn’t curse.
He just turned to Daniel.
“Lock down the house. Nobody leaves. Call the team at the railyard.”
Daniel frowned. “The ticket says Union Station.”
“She’s lying,” I blurted out.
Both men looked at me.
I held up the silver locket I had found in Vanessa’s coat.
“The ticket is a decoy. She dropped it on purpose when she pulled her gun. I saw Mercer’s text message before she took the phone back.”
Luca stepped closer to me. “What did it say?”
“He said he’s heading to the extraction point.” I looked Luca dead in the eye. “She’s not going to the train station. She’s going to wherever Mercer is holding the boy.”
Luca stared at me for a long, heavy moment.
Then he pulled a set of keys from his pocket.
“Daniel, secure the guests.”
“Boss, you can’t go alone—”
“I’m not.”
May you like
Luca looked at me.
“You saw the text. You know how she thinks. Come with me.”
