Chapter 5 — The Man Behind the Door
Detective Ruiz drew her weapon.
The handle stopped moving.
“Step away from the door,” she ordered.
Silence.
Then footsteps retreated down the hallway.
Ruiz opened the door and rushed out with two officers. Sophie heard shouting, then the crash of a service cart.
Minutes later, police returned with a young waiter in custody.
He was terrified.
“I didn’t know what was happening,” he insisted. “A man paid me five hundred dollars to knock and tell them to leave.”
“Where is he?” Ruiz asked.
The waiter pointed toward the elevators.
Security footage showed Marcus entering an elevator wearing a police jacket.
He had changed disguises again.
By the time officers reached the lobby, he was gone.
But he had left something behind.
Inside the elevator was a small recording device.
It contained Daniel’s voice.
“If Olivia refuses to sign, use her mother.”
Olivia went rigid.
“My mother is at home.”
She called immediately.
No answer.
Police rushed to the residence while Olivia remained at the hotel. Twenty minutes later, an officer called Ruiz.
The house was empty.
There were no signs of forced entry.
On the kitchen table lay a typed message.
Sign over Brightwell, and Evelyn comes home.
Olivia’s mother had been kidnapped.
Daniel’s expression changed when Ruiz confronted him.
For the first time, he appeared genuinely shocked.
“That wasn’t part of the plan.”
Rachel laughed bitterly from across the interrogation room.
“You thought you were Marcus’s partner?”
Daniel stared at her.
“You were always disposable, Daniel. Just like me.”
Detective Ruiz placed the threat in front of him.
“You help us find Marcus, or every consequence of what happens to Evelyn becomes yours.”
Daniel’s arrogance cracked.
He admitted Marcus maintained several properties under false companies. One was an abandoned private clinic outside the city.
Police prepared a raid.
Olivia insisted on going.
Ruiz refused.
“If Marcus sees police coming, he may kill your mother.”
Olivia looked at Daniel through the glass.
“Then send him.”
Everyone turned toward her.
Daniel’s face went pale.
“You want me to walk into Marcus’s clinic?”
“You created this.”
Olivia stepped closer.
“You used my love, stole my identity and tried to drug me at our wedding. Now you are going to help bring my mother home.”
Daniel shook his head.
“He’ll kill me.”
May you like
Olivia’s expression did not change.
“Then for the first time tonight, you’ll understand exactly how I felt when that spoon was approaching my mouth.”
