Chapter 14 - The Torn Veil
By morning, the explosion at Pier 42 made front-page news across New York, though media outlets dismissed it as a simple "industrial electrical fire."
I retreated to a safehouse in Brooklyn, my body bruised and bleeding from grazing bullet wounds. Victor was waiting inside with a medical kit.
"Boss, we have a problem," Victor said as he stitched a gash on my shoulder. "Detective Miller—our only remaining contact in the NYPD who helped clear your old records—was found dead in his car this morning. Ruled a suicide."
A cold shudder ran down my spine. Miller was an honest cop who had given me a second chance at life.
"Dominic is cleaning house," I gritted out. "He wants me completely isolated."
At that moment, my phone buzzed with an incoming video message from an untraceable contact.
The video showed a group of armed men in tactical gear surrounding the perimeter of The Vault! The mansion's security grid was under a heavy cyberattack. The feed from Claire's living room began to flicker with static.
"Claire!" I roared.
I sprinted to the car, slamming my foot on the accelerator onto the snow-covered highway toward the north. Blinding snow began to fall, cutting visibility down to near zero. My heart hammered wildly. If anything happened to Claire or Liam, I would burn the entire city to the ground.
When I breached the front doors of The Vault, the gunfire had ceased.
The marble floor was littered with shattered glass and spent shell casings. Three of my guards lay motionless in pool of blood. I sprinted into the inner panic room.
The reinforced steel door had been blown open with breaching charges.
Inside... was empty.
On Claire's vanity table, a baby cradle sat flipped over. Liam’s stuffed animal lay on the floor, stained with fresh drops of blood.
And painted on the wall in blood was a single message:
May you like
"Lovely room, Adrian. But we took them out for a tour of the city."
I collapsed to my knees, holding my head in my hands. A guttural roar of agony echoed through the empty mansion. For the first time in ten years, I felt absolute, crushing despair. The darkness I had fought so hard to escape had returned to devour everything I lived for.
