Chapter 7 - The Trap in Milwaukee
The happiness they shared was cut short three days later by a frantic phone call from Milwaukee.
Lena’s mother, Martha Carter, lived in a quiet suburban home thirty miles outside the city. At 10:00 a.m., Marcus received an alert from the discreet security detail Dominic had placed around Martha’s house.
The house was empty. The guards had been neutralized with silenced weapons, and a single black envelope had been left on the kitchen table.
Inside the envelope was a photograph of Martha tied to a chair in an industrial warehouse, along with a handwritten note from Richard Sterling:
Bring the girl and the Marlowe ledgers to the Old Iron Works in Milwaukee by midnight. Come alone, Dominic, or the old woman dies.
Lena collapsed onto the sofa in Dominic’s study, clutching her head, hysterical with grief and panic.
"My mother..." Lena sobbed, her chest heaving. "Dominic, he’s going to kill her like he killed Daniel!"
Dominic dropped to his knees in front of her, holding her face in his broad hands, forcing her to look into his eyes.
"Listen to me, Lena," Dominic said, his voice terrifyingly calm and steady. "Look at me. Your mother is not going to die. I promise you on my life."
"He said to come alone!" Lena cried. "It’s a trap!"
"Of course it’s a trap," Dominic agreed coldly, a ruthless, predator’s smile touching his lips. "Sterling thinks he’s playing a game of chess with an old businessman. He doesn't realize he’s invited a wolf into his house."
Marcus stepped into the room, checking the magazine of an assault rifle. "The assault team is ready, boss. Four tactical squads, fully suppressed, with satellite thermal tracking."
"No," Dominic countered, standing up. "Sterling wants a show. We give him one. Marcus, take team alpha and set up sniper positions on the high ridges surrounding the iron works. Lena... you’re coming with me."
May you like
Lena blinked through her tears. "I’m coming?"
"Sterling wants you there because he thinks you’re my weakness," Dominic explained, dipping his fingers into her hair, kissing her forehead gently. "He doesn't know that you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. We’re going to get your mother back together."
