Chapter 80 The Recording
At exactly noon, a woman approached the information booth.
Tall, in her Fifties wearing an Expensive suit and a Familiar face.
Ariella’s blood ran cold.
“You,” she breathed.
Victoria Frost. Aiden’s aunt. Richard’s younger sister. The woman who’d visited them after Richard died, offering condolences and support. The woman who’d been so kind during the trial.
“Hello, Ariella.” Victoria’s smile was ice. “I see you’re surprised.”
“You’re supposed to be the good one. The one who loved Catherine. Who helped us…”
“I am helping you. By offering you a way out of this mess my idiot brother created.” Victoria gestured to a bench. “Sit. Let’s talk like civilized people.”
Ariella sat. Aiden drifted closer, still pretending to read.
“Where are the documents?” Victoria asked.
“Safe. You’ll get them when we get answers. Starting with: are you the one who’s been threatening us?”
“Threatening? I prefer ‘incentivizing.’ You were getting too close to information that would hurt a lot of people. People who’ve worked very hard to build something real.”
“You mean the embezzlement network.”
“I mean a system that allowed brilliant people to maximize their potential without government interference. Richard understood that. Until Catherine corrupted him with her morality.”
“You killed her.” It wasn’t a question.
Victoria sighed. “I ordered it. There’s a difference. The drunk driver was simply a contractor, just like the man who ran the Hayes boy off the road, like the people who arranged Victoria Winters’ suicide.” She smiled. “Ironic, isn’t it? Sharing a name with that woman made it very easy to confuse people about who died.”
“You’re confessing.” Ariella’s voice shook. “You’re actually confessing to murder.”
“Why not? You won’t leave this terminal alive to tell anyone.” Victoria pulled a phone from her purse. “I have six people positioned throughout this station. One text and you’re both dead. So let’s discuss terms. You give me the documents, You sign NDAs. You take twenty million dollars and disappear. Your daughter grows up rich and safe. Everyone wins.”
“Except the people you murdered.”
“Ancient history. Catherine’s been dead for years, same as Ethan Hayes, Sophia Winters, and Victoria Winters. They’re not coming back no matter what you do.”
Aiden moved closer. Victoria’s eyes tracked him.
“Mr. Frost. How lovely you could join us.” Her smile was venomous. “I suppose you want to know why I killed your mother?”
“I know why. She was going to expose you.”
“Partially. But mainly? She was weak. The same way you’re weak, Soft, and emotional. Richard should have married someone with a spine. Someone who understood that empires require sacrifice.” Victoria leaned forward. “Your mother cried when I told her we’d hurt you if she talked. Begged me to spare you. It was pathetic.”
“You’re insane,” Aiden said.
“I’m practical. There’s a difference.” Victoria’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it, frowned. “Interesting. It seems your journalist friend Ms. Reeves is broadcasting this conversation. Live. To quite an impressive audience.”
Ariella’s blood froze.
Victoria laughed. “Did you really think I wouldn’t check for wires? I’ve been in this game for thirty years. I taught Richard everything he knew.” She stood. “Unfortunately, this changes things.”
She sent the text.
Around the terminal, six people began moving. Converging on their location.
“Run,” Victoria said pleasantly. “It’ll make this more interesting.”
Aiden grabbed Ariella’s hand as they ran.
Behind them were shouting, People screaming, The terminal erupting into chaos.
They made it to the main entrance when the first gunshot rang out.
The bullet hit the marble wall beside Ariella’s head. She screamed.
Aiden pulled her down, behind a pillar. “The van. We have to get to the van.”
They scrambled through the crowd. More gunshots. Someone screaming about terrorists, People stampeding.
Outside, Jessica Reeves’ van was already moving, the door sliding open. “Get in!”
They dove inside. The van peeled away from the curb just as Victoria emerged from the terminal, phone to her ear, face calm.
“Did you get it?” Aiden gasped. “The confession?”
“Every word.” Jessica was grinning like a maniac. “Streaming to the FBI, the Times, the Post, three TV stations, and about fifty thousand people on social media. Victoria Frost just confessed to four murders on live broadcast.”
“She knew,” Ariella said. “She knew we were recording and she still…”
“Because she has a backup plan,” Aiden finished. “She always has a backup plan.”
His phone rang, an Unknown number.
He answered on speaker.
Victoria’s voice: “Impressive. You’ve made this public, Unfortunately for you, I made arrangements for this possibility.”
“What arrangements?”
“Check the news in sixty seconds. And then call me back when you’re ready to negotiate for your daughter’s life.”
The line went dead.
Jessica pulled up news feeds on her laptop.
There: breaking news.
Domestic Shelter Raided. Multiple Casualties. Infant Missing.
Ariella couldn’t breathe. “Elena. They took Elena.”
The phone rang again.
Victoria: “Now. Let’s discuss terms, Real terms. You have something I want. I have something you want. We can both walk away from this. Or I can mail you your daughter in pieces. Your choice.”
Ariella grabbed the phone. “I will kill you.”
“No, dear. You won’t. Because if anything happens to me, the people holding Elena have instructions to make her disappear forever. But if you’re reasonable,if you bring me those documents and sign my NDAs, you can have her back. Unharmed. By tonight.”
“How do we know you won’t kill us anyway?”
“You don’t. But you don’t have a choice.” Victoria’s voice was almost kind. “This is the part where you learn that being right doesn’t matter. Only power matters. And I have all of it. Be at Pier 57 at sunset, Come alone. Both of you. Or you’ll never see your baby again.”
The call ended.
Ariella turned to Aiden. “We’re going.”
“It’s a trap—”
“I don’t care. She has our daughter.”
“And she’ll kill us all…”
“Then we die together!” Ariella’s voice broke. “But I’m not leaving Elena with those monsters. I’m not…” She couldn’t finish.
Aiden pulled her close. “Okay. Okay. We’ll go. But we’re going armed. And we’re going smart. And if there’s any chance, any chance at all, we’re getting our daughter back and burning that woman’s empire to ash.”
Jessica cleared her throat. “The FBI is already mobilizing. SWAT teams. Hostage negotiators. They saw the broadcast. They know…”
“They won’t get there in time,” Aiden said. “Victoria’s too smart. Too connected. By the time they breach wherever she’s keeping Elena, our daughter will be gone.”
“So what do we do?”
Aiden looked at Ariella. “We finish what our parents started. We end this family war. Once and for all.”
Outside, the sun was already setting.
And somewhere in New York, their six-month-old daughter was in the hands of a woman who’d murdered four people without hesitation.
The clock was ticking.