Chapter 6 - The Saboteur Within
Two weeks after Nora's recovery, a dark cloud gathered on the horizon once more.
While Dominic was out attending a high-level meeting with his syndicate captains to finalize security protocols against the Mercer family, Nora was resting in the library. Her phone rang from an unknown number.
She answered cautiously. "Hello?"
"Nora... oh God, Nora, please don't hang up!"
It was her mother, Diane Hayes. Her voice was shaking, filled with frantic, breathless terror.
Nora's grip on the phone tightened. "Mother? How did you get this number?"
"Your father... he's gone mad, Nora!" Diane sobbed hysterically into the receiver. "Mercer found out Grant took Dominic's money without settling the interest! They came to our house... they beat Grant, and they're holding me at the old grain silo near the South Side docks! Grant fled the country and left me here! Nora, please... Mercer's men said they'll kill me by sunset if someone doesn't come!"
Nora felt a chill run down her spine. "Call the police, Diane."
"I can't! Mercer owns the precinct down here!" Diane pleaded. "Nora, I know I was a terrible mother to you! I know I stood by while your father treated you like a transaction! But please... I don't want to die! Please help me!"
Nora sat in silence, her conscience waging a fierce war within her. Diane had stood by silently while her father sold her off. She had offered no comfort when Nora learned she was sterile. Yet, the thought of leaving her mother to be murdered in cold blood made Nora's stomach turn.
"Stay where you are," Nora said coldly. "I will handle it."
Nora immediately called Dominic, but his phone went straight to voicemail—his meeting was held in a underground bunker with zero cellular signal.
Knowing time was running out, Nora left a detailed handwritten note on Dominic's desk, took two of the estate's top security guards, and drove toward the South Side docks.
When they arrived at the decaying, rust-covered grain silo near the river, the area was eerily silent.
Nora stepped out of the SUV, her guards flanking her with drawn weapons. "Mother?" she called out into the cavernous structure.
A figure emerged from the shadows. It was Diane, wearing her expensive fur coat, looking entirely uninjured. Behind her stood Cal Mercer and twenty heavily armed mercenaries.
Nora stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened as she realized the horrifying truth.
"Mother..." Nora whispered, shock turning her blood to ice. "You... you lied?"
Diane looked away, refusing to meet Nora's eyes, her voice devoid of emotion. "Mercer offered us ten million dollars, Nora. Grant and I need the money to start over in Europe. Mercer said he just needed you as leverage to lure Dominic into an ambush."
"You sold me out again," Nora gasped, tears of utter betrayal burning her eyes. "To the man who tried to kill your grandchildren!"
"They aren't my grandchildren!" Diane snapped back bitterly. "You're broken, Nora! You couldn't even give me a real grandchild! At least this way, you're finally useful to your father and me!"
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Cal Mercer stepped forward with a cruel smile, signaling his men. "Grab her. And make sure Vale knows she’s in our hands."
Before Nora's guards could fire, they were overwhelmed and disarmed by Mercer's mercenaries. A heavy cloth was shoved over Nora's face, and darkness swallowed her whole once more.
