Chapter 6 - They Took My Son
I screamed Ethan’s name until my throat tore.
Adrian reached the room seconds behind me.
He saw the empty bed.
The open balcony.
The rope.
Then something inside him disappeared.
Not control.
Something deeper.
Humanity, maybe.
For one terrible instant, I understood why grown men feared Adrian Blackwood.
He did not shout.
He did not panic.
He became silent.
“Seal every road within five miles.”
His men moved.
“Airports.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Private airfields. Marinas. Rail stations.”
“Yes.”
“Activate highway cameras.”
Agent Shaw rushed into the room.
“What happened?”
Adrian turned.
“Find my son.”
Shaw saw the rope.
Her expression hardened.
“We’ll get him.”
Adrian stepped close to her.
“Do not say things you cannot guarantee.”
I grabbed his arm.
“Adrian.”
He looked at me.
“Find him.”
That was all I could say.
He covered my hand with his.
“I will.”
Security footage showed almost nothing.
The power failure had lasted fifty-three seconds.
During that time, someone had used a service corridor behind Ethan’s room.
A corridor that appeared on no modern blueprint.
Victoria knew about it.
So had Marcus.
Marcus was alive.
Unfortunately for him.
He had been shot through the leg and shoulder and was now handcuffed inside Adrian’s basement medical room.
I found Adrian standing outside twenty minutes later.
“You are not going in there alone.”
His jaw tightened.
“Lena.”
“If you kill him, he can’t tell us where Ethan is.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He looked at me.
“I said I know.”
Agent Shaw joined us.
“I’m coming.”
Adrian laughed.
“This is my house.”
“And he’s a federal suspect.”
“He kidnapped my child.”
“Which is why I’m preventing you from doing something stupid.”
Adrian opened the door.
Marcus looked terrible.
Good.
I hated myself for thinking it.
Then remembered Ethan’s bloody shirt.
I stopped feeling guilty.
Marcus smiled when he saw us.
“Family meeting?”
Adrian stood at the foot of the bed.
“Where is Ethan?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian pulled a chair closer and sat.
“I am going to ask once.”
Marcus smirked.
“You’ve gotten soft.”
Adrian said nothing.
“You used to scare people.”
Still nothing.
“Then Lena came back from the dead.”
Marcus glanced at me.
“And suddenly Adrian Blackwood wants to play father.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“Where is he?”
Marcus smiled.
“With his family.”
I stepped closer.
“I am his family.”
“No.”
Marcus’s eyes were cold.
“You’re his mother. That’s different.”
Adrian’s hand tightened.
“Julian?”
Marcus laughed.
“You still think Julian is running this.”
Agent Shaw exchanged a look with Adrian.
“Who is?”
Marcus’s smile widened.
“Roman.”
Everything inside me stopped.
Adrian stared at him.
“My father is dead.”
“Are you sure?”
Adrian stood.
“You identified his body.”
“I identified a coffin.”
Marcus laughed again.
“The Blackwoods really do love fake funerals.”
My skin crawled.
Roman Blackwood had supposedly died four years earlier after a stroke at his private estate in Italy.
Closed casket.
Private burial.
Few photographs.
No autopsy released publicly.
Adrian looked at Shaw.
She was already making a call.
Marcus whispered, “The old man always said you were too emotional to lead.”
Adrian leaned close.
“If my father has Ethan, I will tear apart every country on earth until I find him.”
“That’s exactly what he expects.”
I moved beside Adrian.
“Where?”
Marcus looked at me.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“He once liked you.”
I nearly laughed.
“He tried to kill me.”
“That doesn’t mean he didn’t like you.”
“Where is my son?”
Marcus sighed.
“San Pedro.”
Adrian spun toward the door.
Marcus laughed.
“See? Emotional.”
Adrian stopped.
“What?”
“That’s not where Ethan is.”
Agent Shaw grabbed the bed rail.
“Enough.”
Marcus looked pleased.
“Julian wants the money. Roman wants the boy.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because Roman believes Adrian failed.”
“Failed what?”
“The family.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
Marcus continued.
“Adrian moved too much money into legitimate companies. Closed trafficking routes. Stopped working with certain cartels. Cooperated with federal agents.”
I stared at Adrian.
He said nothing.
Marcus smiled.
“Your terrifying mafia boss has spent six years trying to dismantle his own empire without getting killed by it.”
That changed everything.
I looked at Adrian.
“Is that true?”
“Not now.”
“Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
Marcus laughed.
“Touching.”
I ignored him.
Adrian had been trying to leave.
Maybe not completely.
Maybe not cleanly.
But the man I fled seven years ago was not exactly the man standing beside me.
Marcus continued.
“Roman thinks Ethan is his chance to rebuild.”
“He’s seven,” I said.
“Seven-year-olds grow up.”
“I’ll kill him before I let—”
Adrian grabbed my shoulders.
“Do not finish that sentence.”
I stared at him.
“He is not becoming them.”
“He won’t.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
Marcus coughed.
“You two should save the parenting discussion.”
Agent Shaw leaned toward him.
“Where is Roman?”
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
“That’s the problem.”
“What?”
“I genuinely don’t know.”
Adrian stared.
“Then who took Ethan?”
“A team loyal to him.”
“Where were they instructed to deliver him?”
Marcus hesitated.
Shaw noticed.
“Where?”
“Union Station.”
Adrian frowned.
“Los Angeles?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Thirty minutes from now.”
We ran.
Three SUVs flew through Los Angeles before sunrise with federal vehicles behind us.
At Union Station, police had already begun closing entrances.
Hundreds of confused travelers crowded the concourse.
Adrian received a photograph.
Ethan.
Sitting in a train seat.
Alive.
Holding his stuffed dinosaur.
I nearly collapsed.
A message followed.
COME ALONE.
TRACK 9.
Adrian showed Shaw.
“No,” she said instantly.
“He has Ethan.”
“It’s a trap.”
“I know.”
“You’re not going alone.”
“Yes, I am.”
I grabbed his arm.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Lena.”
“If they want you dead—”
“They don’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if Roman is alive, he wants something from me first.”
“What?”
“Submission.”
Adrian kissed my forehead.
The gesture stunned me.
Then he walked toward Track 9.
I followed from a distance despite every order not to.
The platform was nearly empty.
A train idled beside it.
Adrian stepped forward.
“ETHAN!”
No answer.
Then a small figure appeared inside the train window.
My heart exploded.
Ethan.
He saw Adrian.
“ANGRY EYEBROW!”
Adrian almost broke.
He ran toward the door.
A man stepped from behind Ethan.
Older.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Holding a gun.
Adrian stopped.
I recognized him from photographs.
Roman Blackwood.
Dead for four years.
Standing alive beside my son.
“Hello, Adrian.”
Adrian’s face became white.
“Father.”
Roman smiled.
Then he looked directly past him.
At me.
“Lena.”
I realized he had known I was there the entire time.
“You’ve caused this family enough trouble.”
I stepped out.
“Give me my son.”
Roman looked down at Ethan.
“Our son, apparently.”
Adrian’s voice shook with rage.
“He is not yours.”
Roman smiled.
“No.”
His hand settled on Ethan’s shoulder.
“He is something far more valuable.”
The train doors began closing.
Adrian lunged.
A gunshot exploded.
May you like
He fell.
And the train carrying Ethan began moving.
