Chapter 5 - The Trap is Sprung
Inside Danny's room, Norah set the tray down on the desk.
Danny was lying in bed, looking pale and exhausted. "Norah... my head hurts. The nurse gave me some pills earlier, but they didn't help."
"Don't drink the medicine, Danny," Norah said, her voice a sharp, urgent whisper. "Don't touch anything Beatrice brings you."
Danny sat up, his eyes widening. "What? Why?"
"I think someone is trying to poison you to get to me... or to Stellan," Norah explained, her mind racing. "They want to distract him. They want him focused on a family tragedy while they destroy his business."
She grabbed her phone and dialed Stellan’s private number, but it went straight to voicemail. The federal agents had likely confiscated his devices.
She had to get Danny and Clara out of the house.
"Danny, put your shoes on," Norah ordered. "We’re leaving."
"But where do we go, Norah? The guards—"
"We go through the lake entrance," Norah said. "Stellan told me there’s a boathouse at the bottom of the cliff. There must be a way out."
She ran to Clara’s room, finding the little girl packing her favorite stuffed rabbit into a small backpack. Clara looked at Norah, her eyes wide with understanding. 'We are going on an adventure?' she signed.
'Yes, Clara. A fast adventure. We have to be very quiet.'
They slipped down the back staircase, avoiding the main foyer where the federal agents were still cataloging files. Norah led Danny and Clara through the service corridors, reaching the heavy oak door that led to the cliffs overlooking Lake Michigan.
The November wind hit them like a wall of ice, reminiscent of the day Norah had jumped into the river. The sky was dark, heavy with the promise of snow.
As they descended the stone steps toward the boathouse, a voice echoed from the trees behind them.
"Where are you going, Miss Ashby?"
Norah turned to see Victor standing at the top of the steps. He was holding a sleek black pistol, his face twisted in a desperate, ugly grimace.
"Victor," Norah said, keeping her body between him and the children. "You’re the one. You set up the arms shipment. You tried to poison Danny."
"Stellan is a dinosaur," Victor snarled, walking down the steps slowly. "He thinks he can play the legitimate businessman while the rest of us starve. The Lucchese family offered me fifty percent of the shipping empire if I helped them remove Stellan. And you... you ruined everything by saving that deaf brat."
Clara clutched Norah’s coat, her body trembling. Even without hearing his words, she could feel the violence radiating from her uncle.
"She is your niece, Victor!" Norah screamed over the howling wind. "She’s a child!"
"She is a liability," Victor said, raising the gun. "And so are you. But don't worry. The police will find your bodies in the lake. A tragic accident. The heroic maid tried to save the children from a sudden fall, but the water was just too cold."
"No," a voice boom from the shadows of the boathouse below.
Stellan Vane stepped out into the wind.
He was alone, his coat billowing around him. His grey eyes were no longer calm; they were filled with a terrifying, ancient rage that belonged to the man who had conquered the Chicago underworld.
"Stellan!" Victor gasped, his hand shaking as he swung the gun toward his brother-in-law. "How... the feds—"
"The feds are working for me, Victor," Stellan said, his voice carrying over the roar of the lake. "I called them. I needed a distraction to make you think you had won, to make you reach for your backup plan. I knew you would go after Norah and Clara."
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Victor let out a desperate, high-pitched laugh. "You're too late, Stellan! I have the security codes! The guards are mine!"
"No, Victor," Stellan said, stepping closer. "The guards are loyal to the man who pays them. And I paid them twice what the Lucchese family promised you. Drop the gun."
