Chapter 15 - Forty-Seven Floors
Vale Tower rose above the Chicago River like black glass.
At 11:58 p.m., Adrian entered the lobby.
No guards.
No receptionist.
Every security monitor had been disabled.
Marcus had chosen well.
He knew the building.
He knew the systems.
He knew Adrian.
Or believed he did.
Adrian stepped into the elevator.
Forty-seven.
The doors closed.
Beneath his shirt, a transmitter no larger than a coin sent audio to Rebecca Sloan’s tactical team.
In his pocket was Evelyn’s damaged phone.
The real recording had already been copied.
Marcus did not know that.
The elevator opened.
The forty-seventh floor was unfinished.
Bare concrete.
Exposed beams.
Plastic sheets moving in the night air.
Marcus stood near the windows.
Lily was in a portable crib beside him.
Adrian saw her.
Alive.
Unharmed.
His body almost betrayed him with relief.
Marcus smiled.
“Still calm.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Give her to me.”
“The phone.”
Adrian held it up.
“Lily first.”
Marcus laughed.
“You really think you’re negotiating?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you need that recording.”
Marcus’s smile faded slightly.
Adrian continued.
“If you didn’t, Lily would already be dead.”
The words nearly destroyed him to say.
Marcus glanced toward the crib.
“You always were observant.”
“Why keep her alive?”
“Insurance.”
“Against what?”
“You.”
Adrian shook his head.
“You already lost.”
Marcus laughed.
“I have accounts in six countries.”
“I have names that could collapse companies.”
“I have politicians begging me not to talk.”
“I haven’t lost anything.”
“You lost me.”
Marcus stared.
Adrian continued.
“You spent fifteen years convincing yourself you were standing beneath me.”
“You weren’t.”
“You were standing beside me.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“I gave you everything friendship could give.”
“And you traded it for a chair.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“That chair controlled billions.”
“And now it controls nothing.”
Marcus frowned.
Adrian smiled faintly.
“I dissolved the structure this afternoon.”
Marcus’s face changed.
“You’re lying.”
“I handed the organization to federal prosecutors.”
For the first time, Marcus looked genuinely shocked.
“You destroyed your own empire?”
“Yes.”
“For a child?”
Adrian looked at Lily.
“For my daughter.”
Marcus laughed in disbelief.
“You’re pathetic.”
“No.”
Adrian looked directly at him.
“I’m free.”
Marcus raised his gun.
The red laser of a distant tactical rifle appeared briefly on his shoulder.
Adrian saw it.
Marcus did not.
But before Rebecca could give the order, Marcus stepped behind Lily’s crib.
The laser disappeared.
Marcus smiled.
“Phone.”
Adrian placed it on the floor.
Marcus walked forward.
Then Lily suddenly began crying.
Marcus looked down.
For one second.
One second was enough.
May you like
Adrian moved.
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