Alle Kapitel von After You Broke My Heart: Kapitel 61 – Kapitel 69

"No." "Sir…" "Not yet." Nick drew a slow breath, and I saw the CEO come back into his face, cold and focused and dangerous. "If he knows we know, he'll run. Or worse. Fola has the statement, and the trustees, and Zara's photograph. Midnight is in…" He glanced at his watch. "Four hours." "What do we do?" I asked. "We wait. We watch." He turned to me. "And we don't let Arthur Briggs know that Amara woke up." "He'll find out. Zara visited her three times." "Then he already knows." His mouth twisted. "Which is why someone leaked the vitals to Fola ninety seconds before the hospital called me." My stomach dropped. "Okoye?" "I don't think so." He rubbed his eyes. "I think someone else on this ward is on his payroll." "Sir," Marcus said. "The staff check is running. Give me an hour." "Do it quietly." "Yes, sir." He moved off, speaking low into his phone. Nick and I stood together in the empty corridor under the humming lights. I laced my fingers through his, and he let me. "I'm

"At eleven forty-five at night?" Marcus said grimly. "I know a judge," Nick said quietly. "She owes me a favour. I'll call her. But it'll take an hour to wake her and ten minutes for the emergency petition." "That's past midnight," I said. "By an hour." "So Fola files." "Yes." "And the trustees convene." "In the morning." "Which gives us until the morning to stop them." "Yes." "Then we have time," I said slowly. "Not much. But some." Nick looked at me. For the first time that night, I saw something that wasn't fear or fury in his face. It was hope, small and fierce. "Rita," he said. "Thank you." "For what?" "For making me look at it." I smiled. My heart was pounding. My burner phone buzzed on the table. We all froze. It lay face up beside a cup of cold coffee, the little screen lit with an unfamiliar number. I picked it up, my fingers stiff, and read the message aloud. Rita. Please don't tell anyone I'm texting you. I'm on the roof of Bellmont. The east side. I'm sc

"Marcus. Cars. Now.""Already on the radio, sir.""Every exit from St. Aldric's. Every camera between there and the river." He had Zara by the elbow, not roughly, but with a grip that left no room to refuse. "Where would your mother take her?""I don't know.""Zara.""I don't know!" Her voice cracked. "She doesn't tell me things. She tells me where to stand.""Think.""I'm trying." She pressed her fists to her temples, rocking on her bare feet. "She said something on the phone last week. About a ship. A 'medical berth.' I thought it was for work.""A ship," Nick repeated."Edmund's. The shipping arm. She said it sails at one.""Which port?""I don't…" Her eyes squeezed shut. "River. The old container yard. Pier Nine."Marcus was already running for the stairs.The service elevator took forever. We stood in a tight, silent knot, Nick's hand locked around mine, Zara shivering against the wall. Somewhere below us, a clock chimed the quarter hour, and I felt it like a drip of cold water d

The words landed like stones in still water.I counted the shadows moving through the mist. Thirty, maybe forty men, in grey tactical jackets, moving in a slow, disciplined half-circle. They stopped twenty feet away and stood with their hands folded in front of them. At their centre stood a lean, bald man with a scar through one eyebrow, holding a clipboard like a weapon."Mr. Pryce," Edmund called pleasantly. "Right on time.""Sir." The bald man's voice was flat and dry. "We have the area secured.""And the principal assets?""The woman on the stretcher, and the two staff members on the ground." His gaze moved across the three of us. "And the guests.""Wonderful." Edmund smiled at Nick. "You see, nephew? Nothing dramatic. We're only here to bring Miss Eze home, and to escort you off the premises before you hurt yourself.""You're kidnapping her.""I'm relocating her to a private facility, with excellent care, at the family's expense." He tilted his head. "You've been so devoted. It's

"Or somewhere Richard put it himself."Catherine went very still. Her hand moved to her collar, and she drew out a thin silver chain from beneath her blouse. At the end of it hung a small brass key, worn smooth with handling."I forgot," she whispered."Forgot what?""He gave me this at the wedding." She held it up. "Richard. After the ceremony, when we were alone. He pressed it into my hand and said, In case he ever needs it. I thought he meant a keepsake. A sentimental old man's gesture." Her fingers trembled. "I've worn it for four years."Leah crossed the room in three strides. "That's a deposit box key.""How do you know?""I watch way too many heist films." She tilted it to the light. "There's a number stamped on the bow. And a bank mark."Catherine turned the key over. In tiny letters along the shaft, almost worn away, I could read HALLORAN & FINCH PRIVATE.The room seemed to hold its breath."Where is it?" I asked."Hartwell Street. They open at nine." Catherine's voice shook.