Chương 10
“You don’t get to order me around.”
“Fine.”
His voice dropped.
“Please.”
Another contraction stole her answer.
Roman heard her gasp.
Then the phone shifted.
Vivien said, “We’re moving.”
Roman stood motionless beside his desk while his wife was carried through a danger he could not reach without making worse.
Luis’s voice came through the other phone.
“They’re in the vehicle.”
“The SUV?”
“Still parked.”
“Follow it.”
“I have a second unit.”
Roman heard an engine accelerate through Vivien’s line.
Then Luis said, “Roman.”
“What?”
“The black SUV just turned on its lights.”
Roman’s grip tightened.
“Where is it going?”
A pause.
Then Luis answered.
“Not after Elena.”
Roman stared at the window.
“Then where?”
“Toward your estate.”
Roman looked toward the dark front windows of the estate.
“How far out?”
“Six minutes, maybe seven.”
“Who’s in it?”
“Can’t tell yet.”
“Your man stay with Elena.”
“He is.”
“Everyone else comes here.”
Luis was silent for half a second.
“You leaving?”
Roman looked at the photograph of the ledger page still glowing on his monitor.
“No.”
“Good.”
“That disappoint you?”
“No, it saves me from chasing you while I’m trying to manage everybody else.”
Roman disconnected.
He opened the desk drawer and took out the handgun he had ignored earlier.
He checked the magazine, chambered a round, then stopped.
The old instinct was too familiar.
Weapon first.
Question later.
It had been his father’s way of solving uncertainty.
It had also been the reason half the family spent their lives cleaning up problems that should never have become violent.
Roman put the gun back in the drawer.
Then he changed his mind and took it again.
He slipped it into the back of his waistband.
Human improvement, he thought grimly, apparently had limits.
He called the estate security room.
A young guard named Paul answered.
“Mr. Marino?”
“Lock the exterior gates.”
A pause.
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
“South gate too?”
“Especially south.”
“Do we have a threat?”
“We have an unknown vehicle approaching.”
“Should I call local police?”
Roman looked toward the office door.
Ten years ago he would have said no before Paul finished the sentence.
Tonight he said, “Not yet.”
It was not much progress, but it was something.
“Keep the cameras recording locally and off the cloud backup.”
Paul hesitated.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know who has access to the remote system.”
That answer frightened Paul more than if Roman had lied.
“Understood.”
“And don’t erase anything.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“I know.”
Roman ended the call.
Then he called Vivien back.
She answered with the sound of road noise and Elena breathing through another contraction.
“Where are you?”
“Ten minutes from the hospital.”
“How’s the bleeding?”
“Still there.”
Roman swallowed.
“Put me on speaker.”
“You already are.”
Elena made a tired sound.
“You people really have to stop doing that.”
Roman’s mouth tightened.
“How bad is the pain?”
“Not useful.”
“What?”
“The question.”
“Elena.”
“I’m in pain.”
Her breath caught.
“Does that help?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Vivien said, “Save your energy.”
Elena muttered, “Tell your son that.”
Roman stared at the baby shoes.
“I’m sorry.”
Nothing came back for several seconds.
He could hear tires over wet pavement.
Finally Elena said, “For what part?”
He deserved that.
“All of it.”
“That’s a lot of parts.”
“I know.”
Vivien inhaled sharply.
“Both of you are going to give me a stroke.”
Elena laughed once, then the laugh broke into a gasp.
Roman gripped the desk.
“What happened?”
“Contraction,” Vivien said.
“How far apart?”
“Five minutes.”
Roman closed his eyes.
“Hospital now.”
“We are literally driving there.”
“I know.”
“Then stop trying to drive from your office.”
He did not answer.
Elena’s breathing slowly settled.
Then she said, “Roman.”
“Here.”
“You need to get out of the house.”
He looked toward the front of the estate.
“No.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“That is rich coming from the woman who hid contracts belonging to men who would happily bury us both.”
“I moved paper.”
“You moved dangerous paper.”
“You brought Sabrina into our bedroom.”
Vivien groaned.
“Wonderful timing.”
Elena ignored her.
“The difference is I knew what I was doing.”
That hurt because it was true.
Roman looked at the unknown-number messages.
“She said whoever is coming still thinks this is about money.”
Elena went quiet.
“How do you know?”
“I heard her.”
“Where?”
“In the library.”
“You followed her?”
“I waited.”
Another silence.
“You actually waited?”
“Try not to sound surprised.”
“I’m in labor, Roman.”
“You can still be insulting.”
“Apparently.”
The exchange was so ordinary that for three seconds he forgot the fear underneath it.
Then Luis called again.
Roman told Vivien, “I have to go.”
Elena said, “Don’t do anything my daughter will have to hear about from a prosecutor someday.”
Roman almost laughed.
“No promises.”
“Roman.”
“Fine.”
He switched calls.
Luis spoke fast.
“Vehicle is at the outer road.”
“Gate locked?”
“Yes.”
“My team sees two occupants.”
“Armed?”
“Unknown.”
“Plates?”
“New Jersey, but the registration comes back to a rental company.”
“Legit?”
“Working on it.”
Roman moved to the monitor wall in the adjoining security alcove.
The estate cameras showed the black SUV slowing outside the main gate.
It stopped thirty feet short of the barrier.
Nobody got out.
“What are they doing?”
“Waiting.”
“For what?”
Luis said, “That’s the interesting part.”
Roman saw headlights behind the SUV.
A second vehicle appeared.
A silver sedan.
It approached from the opposite direction and stopped on the shoulder.
The driver stepped out.
Roman leaned closer to the monitor.
He knew the walk before the face came into focus.
Vincent Hale.
His chief financial officer.
Roman’s stomach dropped.
Vincent went to the passenger window of the SUV.
He spoke to someone inside.
No handshake.
No obvious friendliness.
Just a short conversation.
Then Vincent looked toward the estate gate.
Straight at the camera.
“Jesus,” Luis said through the phone.
Roman said nothing.
Vincent raised his phone.
Roman’s rang.
He answered.
“Vincent.”
“Open the gate.”
Roman watched him on the monitor.
May you like
“Why?”
“Because we need to talk.”
