Chapter 10 - THE LAST HOSTAGEHarold Pierce did not want money.
He chose the old Ashford Hotel.
Of course he did.
Powerful men often returned to the places where they had first felt invincible.
The hotel had closed for renovation six months earlier.
No guests.
No staff.
Only security.
Most of whom worked for Victor.
Camille wore the wire beneath a dark coat.
Nora checked it twice.
“You ask about leaving the country.”
Camille nodded.
“You mention Elena.”
She swallowed.
“And Mateo?”
“Yes.”
“What if he knows?”
“Then we pull you out.”
Camille laughed nervously.
“You think you can pull anyone out from my father?”
Lorenzo stood across the room.
“Yes.”
Camille looked at him.
For once, she believed him.
Elena was not supposed to be there.
Naturally, she came anyway.
She waited in the surveillance van with Nora.
Lorenzo positioned himself inside the hotel with Matteo.
Rebecca Sloan monitored from another location.
At ten exactly, Victor arrived.
Camille waited in the ballroom where the Ashford family had hosted charity galas for thirty years.
Victor walked in alone.
“You embarrassed me.”
Not hello.
Not are you safe.
Camille’s face hardened.
“I was attacked.”
“You were careless.”
“Adrian left me.”
“He was weak.”
“Lorenzo knows.”
Victor stopped.
“Knows what?”
Camille almost smiled.
It was a dangerous question.
She remembered her instructions.
“About Elena.”
Victor’s expression remained blank.
“So?”
“And Mateo.”
Something flickered.
Tiny.
Enough.
Camille continued.
“He knows Mateo is alive.”
Victor walked toward her.
“Who told him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Elena find the locker?”
Camille’s breathing changed.
In the van, Nora looked at Elena.
There.
Confirmation.
Camille said, “I think so.”
Victor cursed.
“Crane should have killed that boy eight years ago.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Nora reached for her hand.
Camille pushed.
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because Crane convinced me Mateo was more useful alive.”
“Useful for what?”
“Moving cargo.”
“What cargo?”
Victor glared.
“You know.”
“Say it.”
He looked at her.
Suspicion.
Camille’s heart accelerated.
“Why?”
“I’m tired of pretending.”
Victor studied her.
Then laughed.
“You always were dramatic.”
He poured himself a drink from an old bar.
“People.”
Camille swallowed.
“What?”
“We moved people.”
In the van, Nora whispered, “Got him.”
But they needed more.
Camille kept going.
“And the girls?”
Victor shrugged.
“Some.”
Elena turned away.
Nora squeezed her hand.
Camille’s voice shook.
“How many?”
“Why do you care now?”
“Because Lorenzo Moretti is going to destroy us.”
Victor laughed.
“Lorenzo has problems of his own.”
“What does that mean?”
“His brother was involved.”
Lorenzo heard from his position upstairs.
His jaw tightened.
Victor continued.
“Marco Moretti protected shipments for years.”
Camille stared.
“So Lorenzo can’t expose us without exposing himself.”
“He wasn’t involved.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Victor smiled.
“Public opinion doesn’t care about nuance.”
He drank.
“And if necessary, Pierce will make the evidence disappear.”
In the van, Nora’s eyes flashed.
Perfect.
Camille whispered, “What about Elena?”
Victor’s face hardened.
“She should have disappeared with her brother.”
“You ordered Deluca to kill her?”
“I told him to solve the problem.”
“And Lena?”
Victor hesitated.
Camille pushed.
“The girl saw us.”
Victor’s voice became cold.
“Children forget.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Elena stopped breathing.
Victor took another sip.
“Then she becomes another problem.”
That was enough.
Nora spoke into the radio.
“Go.”
Federal agents entered from three directions.
Victor heard the first door crash downstairs.
His face changed instantly.
He looked at Camille.
“You.”
She stepped backward.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
He lunged.
Camille screamed.
Victor grabbed her throat.
Before he could pull a weapon, Lorenzo stepped from the side corridor.
“Let her go.”
Victor froze.
Camille struggled.
Lorenzo’s gun remained lowered.
Victor smiled bitterly.
“Moretti.”
“Victor.”
“You think you’re different from me?”
“Yes.”
Victor laughed.
“Your brother took my money.”
“He did.”
“Your family built an empire on fear.”
“Yes.”
“So don’t stand there pretending you’re righteous.”
“I’m not.”
Lorenzo took one step closer.
“I’m simply the man standing between you and a child.”
Victor pulled Camille in front of him.
“You won’t shoot.”
“No.”
Victor smiled.
Then Matteo appeared behind him.
Victor turned.
Camille drove her heel into her father’s foot and dropped.
Matteo tackled Victor.
The weapon slid across the floor.
Federal agents flooded the room.
Victor fought.
Cursed.
Threatened.
Named judges.
Senators.
Police chiefs.
Nobody listened.
Nora cuffed him personally.
“You’re making a mistake.”
“I’ve made several.”
She tightened the cuffs.
“This isn’t one.”
Elena entered the ballroom.
Victor saw her.
His face changed.
For eight years, she had imagined this moment.
She expected rage.
Maybe triumph.
Instead she felt strangely calm.
Victor sneered.
“You ruined your brother’s life.”
Elena stopped.
“No.”
“You brought him into this.”
“No.”
“If you hadn’t copied those records—”
“You trafficked human beings.”
Victor said nothing.
“You threatened my family.”
Silence.
“You stole eight years from my brother.”
His expression hardened.
Elena stepped closer.
“You don’t get to give me your guilt.”
For once, Victor Ashford had no answer.
Agents led him away.
Camille sat on the floor, crying.
Elena looked at her.
Camille whispered, “I didn’t know everything.”
“You knew enough.”
“I was afraid of him.”
“So was I.”
Camille looked up.
Elena’s voice remained calm.
“The difference is what we did with the fear.”
She walked away.
Outside, reporters were already gathering.
The story would explode by morning.
But Lorenzo was not looking at cameras.
He was looking at Elena.
She approached him.
“It’s over.”
“No.”
She frowned.
“Victor’s arrested.”
“Pierce isn’t.”
Nora came through the doors.
Her expression confirmed it.
“Pierce disappeared twenty minutes ago.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
Nora continued.
“And he took someone.”
Lorenzo’s stomach dropped.
“Who?”
May you like
She looked at Elena.
“Mateo.”
