Chapter 11 - THE BLOOD ON THE PIER
Anthony fired at Cole.
The shot struck a steel support.
Cole returned fire toward the ground.
Anthony stumbled backward.
Victor pressed one hand against his bleeding shoulder.
His other hand remained on Serena’s wrist.
She struggled.
“You are hurting me.”
Victor looked at Ethan’s injured arm.
“You lost the right to say that in this family.”
He did not strike her.
He pushed her toward Detective Ruiz as officers reached the pier.
Lily held Ethan against her chest.
The baby buried his face beneath her chin.
His entire body shook.
“You are safe,” she whispered.
“Papa is here.”
Victor heard her.
He took one step toward them.
His knees weakened.
Lily saw the blood spreading beneath his coat.
“Victor.”
He collapsed before reaching his son.
The next minutes became noise.
Police shouted.
Paramedics ran across the pier.
Anthony attempted to reach the yacht.
Cole tackled him near the gangway.
Price was arrested inside the helicopter.
Marlene helped officers secure Serena.
Victor was placed on a stretcher.
Before the ambulance doors closed, Lily carried Ethan to him.
Victor touched his son’s foot.
“Do not let them separate you.”
Lily looked at him.
“They won’t.”
His eyes closed.
At the hospital, surgeons removed the bullet.
It had missed the main artery.
Victor would survive.
Ethan was examined again.
The child had not received another sedative.
His arm remained stable.
He fell asleep beside Lily in the pediatric room.
Detective Ruiz took statements through the night.
Marlene admitted helping Serena create false documents.
She also explained that Serena had threatened her younger brother.
The blood inside her car belonged to her.
Serena struck her when she tried to escape the original plan.
Marlene agreed to testify.
Price requested an attorney.
Anthony refused to speak.
Serena demanded to see Victor.
Ruiz denied the request.
At dawn, Lily sat beside Ethan.
Cole entered quietly.
“Victor is awake.”
“Can he see Ethan?”
“In a few hours.”
Cole looked at Lily.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Anthony says you are not Rosa Hayes’s biological daughter.”
Lily stared at him.
“Why would he say that?”
“He claims Rosa took you from a Blackwood safe house when you were a baby.”
Lily stood.
“That is impossible.”
Cole handed her a photograph recovered from Anthony’s coat.
It showed Rosa holding a newborn child.
Beside her stood Isabella’s father.
May you like
On the back was a name.
Liliana Blackwood.
