Chapter 3 - The Shadow Over Vance Global
The air in the room instantly turned arctic.
Marcus stood up slowly, the gentle fatherly warmth vanishing in an instant, replaced by the terrifying aura of a billionaire industrialist whose family had just been targeted.
"Pushed," Marcus repeated, his voice dropping an octave into a cold, lethal register. "Someone pushed a nine-year-old child off the stone embankment at the Sherman Monument?"
"He told the nurses he was walking back from his private tutor's office near 59th Street when someone grabbed his shoulder from behind," Dr. Thorne explained. "He didn't see the face, but he remembers a metallic smell... like industrial engine grease and bitter almonds."
Lily, who had been quietly eating a fruit tart, suddenly froze. Her fork dropped onto the china plate with a loud clink.
Marcus turned to look at her immediately. "Lily? What is it?"
Lily looked down at her hands, her fingers trembling again. "The man," she whispered.
Marcus dropped to his knees beside her chair, his hands gripping the armrests. "What man, Lily? Did you see someone near Ethan before you found him?"
"I... I was sitting near the storm drain under the concrete arch," Lily said, her voice barely audible. "I was hiding because the park police were doing a walk-through. I saw a big man in a dark green mechanic's jacket standing over Ethan near the top of the rocks."
"Did you hear him say anything?" Marcus pressed, his heart pounding in his chest.
"He was looking through Ethan's coat pockets," Lily said, her wide brown eyes looking into Marcus's. "He pulled out a little silver card—the kind that shines like a mirror—and a cell phone. Ethan started crying, and the man... the man kicked him in the side and told him to stay quiet if he didn't want to end up in the river."
"Why didn't you run?" Dr. Thorne asked, shocked.
"I tried to," Lily admitted, her head hanging low. "I waited until the big man walked toward the subway entrance. But then Ethan started making this sound... like a puppy that got hit by a car. He was shivering so bad he couldn't breathe. I knew if he stayed on those wet rocks, he wouldn't make it to morning. So I went over and picked up his phone where the man had dropped it in the mud."
Marcus stared at the five-year-old girl sitting in front of him. She hadn't just saved his son from the elements; she had stepped out of the shadows while an violent attacker was still in the vicinity.
"The silver card," Marcus murmured, standing up and pulling out his secure satellite phone. "The master security key for the vault floor at Vance Global Tower."
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He hit a speed dial button, holding the phone to his ear. "Julian? This is Marcus. Lock down the central server facility at the Wall Street branch immediately. Someone has my master biometric fob. Override all level-seven security clearances and pull the CCTV feeds from the 59th Street subway station between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM."
A frantic voice answered from the receiver, but Marcus cut him off. "Do it now. And send my armored transport to Mount Sinai. My son and our guest are moving to the estate tonight."
