The Woman in the Car

Chapter Sixteen

The hospital disappeared behind us.

I stood beside Damien in the corridor, staring at the empty bed where my father had been only minutes earlier.

I couldn't make sense of it.

One moment, he was there.

The next, gone.

No alarms.

No struggle.

No witnesses.

Nothing.

Except the note.

Don't trust Damien.

I read those words again.

And again.

They seemed to burn into my mind.

Damien stood beside me, silent.

Victor was speaking into his phone.

"Check every exit. I want every vehicle that left the property in the last hour."

He paused.

"Start with the service entrance."

He hung up.

"Nothing?"

"Not yet."

Damien looked at him.

"Security footage?"

"Being pulled."

"Every camera."

"Yes."

Damien turned toward me.

"Lena."

I didn't answer.

"Lena."

I finally looked at him.

His face was calm, but his eyes weren't.

He was worried.

Not about himself.

About me.

"Your father left a note."

"I know."

"He wanted you to doubt me."

"I know."

"Do you?"

I frowned.

"What?"

"Do you doubt me?"

I didn't know how to answer.

The truth was complicated.

I trusted him.

At least, I wanted to.

But my father had just disappeared after leaving me a warning.

My mother had apparently been alive years after her supposed death.

Damien's father had been involved in something far bigger than I had imagined.

And now the man I was supposed to marry might have been connected to my family long before I ever met him.

"I don't know what to believe."

Damien nodded slowly.

"That's fair."

"You aren't angry?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you're finally asking questions."

I stared at him.

"You've known things about me since before we met."

"Yes."

"And you didn't tell me."

"No."

"Why should I trust you?"

He looked at me.

"You shouldn't."

My heart sank.

He continued.

"Not because I'm lying to you."

"Then why?"

"Because trust isn't something you owe me."

He stepped closer.

"If you decide to trust me, it should be because I've earned it."

I looked down.

"Have you?"

His voice softened.

"I'm trying."

That answer hurt more than I expected.

Because Damien De Luca didn't sound like a man who was used to trying.

He sounded like a man who had never needed to.

Two hours later, we were back at the mansion.

The entire property had been placed under lockdown.

Every entrance was guarded.

Every employee was being questioned.

Victor had assembled a team in the study.

I stood outside the door, listening.

"How did they get him out?" Damien asked.

"We don't know."

"That's not acceptable."

"The cameras were disabled for eleven minutes."

"Eleven?"

"Yes."

"Who had access?"

"The administrator."

Damien's voice became colder.

"He's missing too."

"Yes."

"Find him."

"We're trying."

"Try harder."

I stepped into the room.

Everyone went silent.

Damien looked at me.

"What's happening?"

"We're reviewing the hospital footage."

"Did you find my father?"

"Not yet."

I nodded.

"Then what are we doing?"

Victor looked at Damien.

Damien gestured toward the table.

"Come."

I walked over.

Several photographs were spread across it.

Hospital entrances.

Vehicles.

Security guards.

A map.

Victor pointed at one photograph.

"This vehicle entered the hospital at 9:17."

"Who was inside?"

"Medical personnel."

"Real?"

"We're checking."

Another photograph.

"9:26."

A black van.

"Same van?"

"Yes."

"Where did it go?"

"South entrance."

Victor pointed to another photograph.

"The plate was covered."

My stomach tightened.

"They planned this."

"Yes."

"How long?"

"We don't know."

I looked at Damien.

"Someone knew exactly when my father would be vulnerable."

He nodded.

"They had help."

"From inside the hospital."

"Yes."

I stared at the photographs.

"Marcus."

Victor nodded.

"He's connected."

"Then find him."

"We will."

I looked at the map.

"What's this?"

Damien pointed.

"The old train station."

My heart sank.

"The meeting."

"Yes."

"Maybe they took my father there."

"No."

"How do you know?"

"Because the train station is too obvious."

I frowned.

"They wanted us to think they'd take him there."

"So where did they go?"

Damien stared at the map.

Then suddenly picked up a pen.

"Here."

He marked a location.

"What's there?"

"An old De Luca property."

Victor frowned.

"I thought it was abandoned."

"It is."

"Why would they take him there?"

Damien looked at me.

"Because nobody would look there."

My stomach tightened.

"Take me."

"No."

"Damien."

"No."

"He's my father."

"I know."

"Then take me."

He shook his head.

"It's too dangerous."

"I'm already involved."

"That's exactly why."

I stepped closer.

"You can't keep putting me in rooms and telling me to wait."

His eyes darkened.

"I'm trying to keep you alive."

"And I'm trying to get my father back."

Silence.

Victor quietly left the room.

We were alone.

I looked at Damien.

"Please."

He stared at me.

Finally, he nodded.

"You're staying beside me."

"Fine."

"You do exactly what I tell you."

"I'll try."

"Lena."

"Fine."

A faint smile touched his lips.

"Better."

The drive took forty minutes.

The property was outside the city.

Far enough from everything that nobody would notice if something happened there.

The gates were rusted.

The house looked abandoned.

Damien's men surrounded the building before we entered.

He held up his hand.

Everyone stopped.

He listened.

Nothing.

Then he looked at me.

"Stay here."

"No."

"Lena."

"I'm coming."

He sighed.

"Behind me."

I nodded.

We entered.

The house smelled like dust and damp wood.

The floor creaked beneath our feet.

Damien moved carefully.

His gun was drawn.

I stayed behind him.

"Do you think he's here?"

"I don't know."

We searched the first floor.

Nothing.

Then we heard something.

A noise upstairs.

A chair moving.

Damien raised his weapon.

"Stay back."

He moved toward the stairs.

I followed.

We reached the second floor.

A door stood open.

Inside was a small room.

A chair.

A table.

Ropes.

My stomach dropped.

"Someone was here."

Damien stepped inside.

There was blood on the floor.

Not much.

But enough.

I covered my mouth.

"Is it my father's?"

"I don't know."

He crouched beside it.

"Fresh."

A sound came from the hallway.

Damien turned.

A figure ran.

"Stay here."

He chased them.

I heard footsteps.

Then a crash.

A gunshot.

I froze.

"Damien!"

No answer.

I ran toward the sound.

I found Damien in the hallway.

He had someone pinned against the wall.

Marcus.

His face was bruised.

Damien's gun was pressed against his chest.

"Where is her father?"

Marcus laughed.

"You really care about her."

Damien's expression didn't change.

"Where?"

Marcus looked at me.

"You shouldn't have come."

Damien slammed him against the wall.

"Where is he?"

Marcus smiled.

"Ask your wife."

I froze.

"What?"

Marcus laughed.

"She knows."

Damien's eyes narrowed.

"Knows what?"

Marcus looked directly at me.

"Your mother didn't come back for you."

My heart stopped.

"What?"

Marcus smiled.

"She came back for the ledger."

Damien's expression changed.

"What are you talking about?"

Marcus's eyes gleamed.

"She was never trying to save her daughter."

"Shut up."

"She wanted what was hers."

I shook my head.

"You're lying."

"Am I?"

He looked at Damien.

"Your precious wife has been lied to her whole life."

Damien tightened his grip.

"Where is her father?"

Marcus smiled.

"Too late."

My blood ran cold.

"What does that mean?"

He looked at me.

"He's already with her."

I stopped breathing.

"With who?"

Marcus's smile widened.

"Your mother."

The room spun.

My mother.

Alive.

With my father.

And if Marcus was telling the truth, she had taken him.

I looked at Damien.

His expression was unreadable.

Then Marcus whispered the words that changed everything.

"She asked me to tell you something."

"What?"

"She said..."

He looked directly at me.

"Tell Lena that if she wants her father back, she has to come home."

I frowned.

"Home?"

Marcus nodded.

"Her real home."

"Where?"

He smiled.

"Ask your father."

Damien's eyes darkened.

"You know where they are."

Marcus laughed.

"Of course."

"Tell me."

"Why?"

Damien pressed the gun harder against him.

"Because I'm asking."

Marcus stared at him.

Then his smile disappeared.

"She's waiting for you too."

"Who?"

Marcus looked at me.

"Your mother."

A silence fell over the house.

Then Marcus said quietly:

"She wants to meet the man her daughter is going to marry."

My heart stopped.

Damien's eyes met mine.

And for the first time, neither of us knew which frightened us more.

The fact that my mother was alive.

Or the fact that she had known about Damien all along.