Chapter 12 - THE MAN INSIDE THE GARAGE
Security traced the package to a courier who had been paid in cash.
The courier described a man wearing a baseball cap and medical mask.
Dominic knew how to avoid cameras.
He also knew the mansion.
At 2:13 the following morning, the nursery alarm activated.
Julian and I reached Ava’s room within seconds.
The window was open.
The crib was empty.
My heart stopped.
Then Sofia, our new night nurse, stepped from the bathroom holding Ava.
“I heard the window lock move.”
“I took her before anyone entered.”
Security searched the grounds.
They found a rope beneath the nursery window.
Footprints crossed the garden toward the detached garage.
Julian followed the officers.
I remained with Ava until Sofia locked the safe room.
Then I opened the camera system.
One garage feed showed a shadow behind Julian’s car.
“Julian, stop.”
My voice reached his earpiece.
He froze.
Dominic stepped from behind the vehicle with a gun.
“You should listen to your wife more often,” he said.
Security officers aimed their weapons.
Dominic pressed the gun against Julian’s side.
“No one moves.”
I watched from the safe room.
My hands remained steady because panic would not help Ava.
Dominic forced Julian toward the garage office.
He demanded access to the trust server.
Julian refused.
“You lost.”
Dominic laughed.
“Your mother taught you nothing.”
“The person with the child controls the family.”
“You do not have Ava.”
“I can still take her.”
“No.”
“She is inside a room you designed.”
Dominic looked toward the house.
He had expected the old security system.
The independent firm had changed it.
Every door required two separate authorizations.
He could not reach Ava through Julian alone.
Dominic’s plan changed.
He demanded the evidence files.
I spoke through the garage speaker.
“They have already been copied to federal servers.”
Dominic looked toward the camera.
“You always needed an audience, Clara.”
“No.”
“I needed witnesses.”
The garage doors closed automatically.
Smoke alarms activated without smoke.
Emergency lights began flashing.
Dominic looked around.
The system was distracting him.
Julian struck his wrist.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Security rushed forward.
Dominic fought until three officers forced him to the floor.
As they restrained him, he began laughing.
“You still do not have the original archive.”
Julian looked down at him.
“My mother does.”
May you like
Dominic smiled.
“She would burn the empire before giving it to you.”
