Chapter 8 - The Abduction of Sadie
The sun had barely risen over Brooklyn when the peace was obliterated.
I was awakened by the sound of muffled shouting from the lower floor, followed instantly by the heavy, hurried footsteps of Victor taking the stairs three at a time.
Ryan was already awake, sitting on the edge of the bed, his face grim as he reached for a fresh black shirt. The moment Victor burst through the bedroom door without knocking, I knew the world had ended.
Victor was pale. His tie was undone, and his hands were shaking.
"Boss," Victor whispered, his voice cracking with sheer horror. "It's the safehouse perimeter."
Ryan stood up instantly, ignoring the flare of pain from his stitched wound. "Speak."
"Tony and Marco were found in the basement alley ten minutes ago. Poisoned dart depressants through the ventilation duct. They’re alive, but unconscious." Victor looked at me, tears of failure in his hardened eyes. "Miss Harper... Sadie's room is empty."
The world went dead, cold, and soundless.
A high-pitched ringing pierced my skull. My vision narrowed into a black tunnel.
"No," I whispered. "No, no, no!"
I sprinted past Victor into the hallway, slamming open the door to Sadie's bedroom.
The bed was rumpled. The window facing the fire escape was wide open, the rain-soaked lace curtains fluttering violently in the morning wind. On the bedside table, pinned under Sadie’s stuffed rabbit, was a handwritten note on expensive cream stationery.
I snatched the paper with trembling, white-knuckled fingers.
*Greer,*
*You took my shipping lanes. You choked my accounts. You humiliated my daughter. Now I take Arthur Harper's last remaining child.*
*Pier 42. Brooklyn Navy Yard. One hour. Come alone, or Arthur’s little girl goes to sleep at the bottom of the East River like her father.*
*— Marcus Voss*
A primal, agonizing scream tore from my throat. My knees gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor, clutching Sadie’s stuffed rabbit to my chest, sobbing so hard I couldn't draw oxygen into my lungs.
"Sadie! Oh God, Sadie!"
Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me up from the floor with unstoppable force. Ryan lifted me into his arms, crushing me against his chest, his voice a low, terrifying roar that cut straight through my hysteria.
"Diane! Look at me!"
I looked up through blinding tears into a face that was no longer human.
Ryan Greer was gone. In his place stood the God of Death. His storm-gray eyes were cold, dead, and burning with a murderous fury so absolute that the temperature in the room felt sub-zero.
"They will not touch a single hair on her head," Ryan swore, his words carved out of black granite. "I swear to you on my father’s soul and Arthur’s grave. I will burn this city to the ground before I let Marcus Voss harm your sister."
He turned to Victor, his voice flat, razor-sharp, and deadly.
"Mobilize everything."
"Boss?" Victor asked, standing at attention.
"Every soldier. Every captain. Every dirty cop on our payroll and every private security contractor from Jersey to Montauk," Ryan commanded, pulling a heavy tactical vest over his wounded chest. "Surround the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Cut off the river access with our speedboats. No one enters. No one leaves."
"Ryan, he said come alone!" I screamed, grabbing his lapels, panic clawing at my throat. "If he sees your men, he'll kill her!"
Ryan looked down at me, cupping the back of my neck with an iron hand. He leaned down and pressed a hard, fierce kiss to my trembling lips.
"He wants me alone, Diane? He's going to get me." Ryan reached into the bedside drawer, pulled out a compact chrome 9mm pistol, checked the chamber with a crisp click, and placed it firmly into my hands.
May you like
"You're coming with me," Ryan said, his eyes blazing. "Because when I drag Marcus Voss to his knees, you are going to be the one who looks him in the eye when the darkness takes him."
---
