Chapter 10 - The Empty Diamond
The estate locked down in less than sixty seconds.
Every gate closed.
Every vehicle stopped.
Every camera feed moved to the security wall.
Luca refused to remain in the study.
He drove his wheelchair directly onto the baseball diamond.
Maya’s footprints ended near the hedge.
Another set approached from the opposite side.
Small.
Tommy’s.
Then larger prints.
A man’s.
Elena stood beside Luca, shaking.
“You promised.”
Luca looked up.
There was nothing he could say.
Marcus found the first clue beneath the hedge.
Maya’s bracelet.
She had pulled it off deliberately.
Twenty yards farther, they found a button.
Not hers.
Black horn.
Custom engraved.
DC.
Dominic Costello.
Elena made a sound Luca would remember for the rest of his life.
“Find him.”
Dominic did not answer his phone.
His townhouse was empty.
His office was empty.
His driver had vanished.
Luca called Arthur.
Arthur answered immediately.
“You took her.”
“No.”
“Dominic did.”
Silence.
“Arthur.”
“You finally understand the difference between us.”
“You poisoned me.”
“Yes.”
“And he took my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Dominic is terrified.”
“Of losing money?”
Arthur laughed.
“No.”
Then his voice hardened.
“Of you learning what he did the night you collapsed.”
Luca looked at Elena.
“What did he do?”
“Ask him.”
“I cannot find him.”
“You can.”
Arthur gave Luca an address.
An abandoned rehabilitation clinic outside the city.
The same clinic where Luca had spent four months after his collapse.
Marcus shook his head.
“It is a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“You cannot go.”
Luca looked toward Elena.
“I am going.”
“So am I,” Elena said.
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You lost twelve years.”
“I raised her for those twelve.”
Her voice dropped.
“Do not tell me where I can go for my child.”
Luca did not argue again.
At the clinic, they found Dominic alone in the lobby.
Maya sat beside him.
Untouched.
Angry.
Not frightened.
When she saw Elena, she jumped up.
“Mom.”
Elena ran to her.
Luca faced Dominic.
“You had one chance to explain yourself.”
Dominic looked exhausted.
“I did not bring her here to hurt her.”
“You abducted my daughter.”
“I brought her because Arthur is coming.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
May you like
Dominic looked toward the dark hallway.
“And when he gets here, he is going to kill all of us.”
