Chapter 29 Eleanor POV
The Swiss air was crisp and thin, sharp with pine and the promise of snow. We landed at a quiet airstrip near Visp, then climbed into two black Range Rovers.
The drive through the Alps took an hour, narrow roads winding past glaciers and sheer rock faces.
There were six of us: Alec, Ollie, his two trusted men—Kostas and Leo, David, and me. I sat in the back of the lead vehicle, sandwiched between Ollie and Alec.
Ollie stared out the window, silent and tense. Alec watched the road, already planning. David gave weather updates from the front seat, which no one listened to.
Vain’s “home” wasn’t a cozy mountain lodge.
It was a sleek glass-and-steel structure clinging to a cliff like a modern fortress. Only one road led to it. Satellite images showed a hidden funicular railway connecting it to a private train station in the valley.
Every detail screamed caution.
We set up in a ski lodge three miles down the mountain.
Through binoculars, we could just make out the house.
Our room contained monitors, gear, and the warm smell of coffee.
“Kostas counted at least a dozen guards,” David said, pointing to a map. “Ex-military—Swiss and German. The funicular is the weak spot. Cut it, and he’s trapped.”
“No,” Alec said, eyes on a drone feed. “If we shut it down, he’ll know something’s wrong. He’s got dead-man switches—digital triggers that’ll erase everything if he feels threatened. We need him to feel safe… until it’s too late.”
“He’s a ghost,” David said nervously. “He’ll have hidden escape routes.”
“And he thinks he just cracked the most secure system ever built,” I said, watching my laptop.
The tracer from Ariadne still pulsed from the mountain house. “His arrogance is his blind spot. He’s not running. He’s figuring out how to use his new key.”
I looked at Alec. He understood instantly.
“So we don’t give him a reason to run,” I said. “We walk in the front door.”
Ollie turned sharply. “He doesn’t take visitors. His guards shoot first.”
“Not if the visitor is the person who built the system he just broke,” Alec said, eyes locked on mine. “Not if she shows up furious, demanding answers.”
Silence filled the room.
“Use her as bait?” Ollie stood, voice tight. “This is insane. We have his location. We lock him in and wait.”
“And while we wait, he hits a button and wipes every trace of evidence,” I said, surprised by my own calm. “I’ll play the outraged creator.
He’ll want to see me.”
“You’re the key to the door,” Alec said. “You buy us entry. We go in as your security. David and Ollie stay here, ready to cut the funicular if things go wrong.”
Ollie shook his head, face pale. “Ellie, don’t—”
“It’s the only move he won’t expect,” I said gently.
“Men like him need to look their victory in the eye. It’s part of the game.”
A flicker of respect crossed Alec’s face. “You understand him.”
“I’ve spent my life studying men like him.”
I closed my laptop. “When do we go?”
“Tonight,” Alec said. “After dark. Snow’s coming—it’ll cover our tracks.”
Time passed slowly. I tried to rest in the small room with its wooden ceiling, rehearsing my role: the angry young genius whose work was stolen. The fury felt real, but it wasn’t for Vain. It was for everything this game had cost me.
A soft knock.
Ollie stood there, holding dark, practical clothes. He looked exhausted, strained.
“You don’t have to do this,” he said, voice raw. “We can find another way.”
“There is no other way,” I said, sitting up. “This is the play.”
“He’ll kill you the second you step inside.”
“Then you’ll have been right,” I said, trying to smile.“And I’ll have been wrong.”
He didn’t smile back. He knelt in front of me, eyes full of pain. “I can’t watch you walk into that house. I can’t sit in a van waiting to pull a trigger. Not after everything.”
He took my hand.
“There’s a trail behind the lodge. Leads to a village with a train station. I’ve got cash. Passports. We can disappear. Let them chase the ghost.”
The offer pulled at me—Ollie, safety, a life beyond revenge. I remembered that London pub, the dream of normalcy.
I looked at our joined hands. He was sincere. Wounded and offering escape, and I knew with quiet certainty that I couldn’t take it.
This was in my blood now. To face the monster. To stand between the king I’d sworn to destroy and the future I might help build.
I pulled my hand away. “I can’t.”
His face fell. He stood, turned, then looked back, walls already back in place. “Right. Of course, the game matters more.”
“It’s not a game, Ollie,” I whispered. “Not anymore.”
He gave a bitter laugh. “Isn’t it?” He walked to the door. “I’ll be in the van, doing my job, keeping the asset safe.” The door shut behind him, finally.
I dressed in dark, expensive clothes—pants, a wool sweater, a sharp down jacket like a furious tech executive. I braided my hair, my pale skin and bright eyes, sharp with purpose. I looked like my mother had the day she faced her own monster.
Another knock.
Alec.
He wore tactical gear—a black vest over a sweater. In his hand was a small device.
“Wire,” he said. “Voice-activated. We’ll hear everything. Say ‘labyrinth,’ and we storm in.”
He clipped the mic under my collar, fingers brushing my neck with quiet focus.
Then he attached a tracker to my waistband.
“Remember,” he said, close enough I could feel his breath. “You’re not a victim, you’re a rival, and you’re angry. You’re there to claim what’s yours or burn it all down. You’re in control.”
The idea steadied me.
He stepped back, studying me.
Something like pride, something deeper, flickered in his eyes. “You look the part.”
“So do you,” I said. The polished Don was gone. In his place stood a hunter. Somehow, that was scarier.
He handed me a small handgun. “For emergencies. Can you use it?”
I took it. The weight felt familiar. “Yes.”
“Good.” He checked his watch.
“One hour.”
He turned to leave—then paused. Didn’t look back.
“Eleanor.”
“Yes?”
“Come back.”
Just two words. It wasn't an order.
A plea.
Then he was gone.
I stood alone, snow beginning to fall outside, the gun light in my hand, his voice echoing in my mind.
The alpine gambit had begun, and I, the queen, stepped onto the board.