The sound of Dominic Vale\u2019s cane striking the marble floor carried through the great room like a gunshot.<\/p>\n
One hard tap.<\/p>\n
Then silence.<\/p>\n
Six men waiting behind the glass doors of the conference room turned at once.<\/p>\n
Vincent Hale, Dominic\u2019s head of security, reacted faster than anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey. Don\u2019t touch him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clare Rowan spun around from the linen cart, and the color drained from her face.<\/p>\n
\u201cEllie!\u201d<\/p>\n
But her four-year-old daughter didn\u2019t seem to understand why every adult in the room had suddenly stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
Ellie remained on her knees beside Dominic Vale\u2019s injured left leg, one tiny hand resting against the lowest black strap of the orthopedic brace partly hidden beneath his trousers.<\/p>\n
Rain whispered against the tall windows overlooking Lake Michigan.<\/p>\n
Clare had been folding towels for the upstairs guest rooms. Ellie was supposed to remain beside the cart with the little wooden latch toy she carried everywhere.<\/p>\n
But Ellie loved mechanisms.<\/p>\n
Buckles.<\/p>\n
Hooks.<\/p>\n
Buttons.<\/p>\n
Anything that clicked.<\/p>\n
And Dominic Vale\u2019s brace had several of them.<\/p>\n
Clare hurried across the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Mr. Vale. I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
She reached for Ellie.<\/p>\n
Dominic lifted one hand.<\/p>\n
Clare froze.<\/p>\n
At forty-three, Dominic had mastered the art of making people obey without raising his voice. He had built legitimate construction companies, restaurants, shipping interests, and real estate holdings across Chicago, but there were older stories attached to the Vale name\u2014stories respectable businessmen preferred not to discuss.<\/p>\n
Dominic rarely threatened anyone.<\/p>\n
He rarely needed to.<\/p>\n
That made Clare even more frightened.<\/p>\n
Dominic looked at the little girl.<\/p>\n
Ellie had moved halfway behind her mother\u2019s skirt, but she was still staring at his brace.<\/p>\n
Not at Vincent.<\/p>\n
Not at the security guard near the conference room.<\/p>\n
Not at Dominic\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
At the brace.<\/p>\n
Dominic shifted his leg.<\/p>\n
Pain immediately shot from beneath his knee down the outside of his calf.<\/p>\n
Eleven weeks earlier, a crash on Lower Wacker Drive had fractured his knee, damaged ligaments, and irritated nerves surrounding the injury. Surgery had gone well.<\/p>\n
At least, that was what everyone kept telling him.<\/p>\n
But something had changed.<\/p>\n
Three weeks earlier, Dominic had been walking fifty feet during rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
Now he could barely cross the great room without his cane.<\/p>\n
His doctors called it a setback.<\/p>\n
Arthur Voss called it something else.<\/p>\n
Proof.<\/p>\n
Proof that Dominic was physically incapable of continuing to control the Vale organization.<\/p>\n
Behind the glass doors, six senior members of the organization waited around a walnut conference table. Documents had already been prepared.<\/p>\n
Temporary authority.<\/p>\n
That was the polite phrase.<\/p>\n
Dominic knew better.<\/p>\n
Once he signed those papers, Arthur Voss would have everything he had wanted for fifteen years.<\/p>\n
Dominic looked down at Ellie.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n
Clare shook her head immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing. She\u2019s tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clare closed her mouth.<\/p>\n
Vincent stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoss, the council is waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vincent\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
Dominic never delayed council meetings.<\/p>\n
Ellie squeezed the hem of her mother\u2019s uniform.<\/p>\n
Dominic softened his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellie pointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shiny part.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominic followed her finger.<\/p>\n
A small silver tab was visible beneath the lowest strap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellie hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
Dominic glanced at Clare.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does she mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellie looked at her mother.<\/p>\n
Then back at Dominic.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy toy has one.\u201d<\/p>\n
She lifted the wooden latch board.<\/p>\n
One of the little mechanisms had a metal clasp.<\/p>\n
Ellie touched it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis goes outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she pointed at Dominic\u2019s brace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat one is inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominic stared at the brace.<\/p>\n
Dr. Samuel Mercer, who had been standing near the rehabilitation doorway, finally approached.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vincent immediately moved between him and Dominic.<\/p>\n
\u201cSlowly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m his physician.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019m his security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dominic waved Vincent aside.<\/p>\n
Mercer crouched.<\/p>\n
He touched the lower strap.<\/p>\n
His fingers stopped.<\/p>\n
Something changed in his face.<\/p>\n
It was subtle.<\/p>\n
But Dominic saw it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The doctor carefully loosened the strap.<\/p>\n
Dominic felt immediate pressure release from his calf.<\/p>\n
He inhaled sharply.<\/p>\n
Mercer stared at the mechanism.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s strange.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The sound of Dominic Vale\u2019s cane striking the marble floor carried through the great room like a gunshot. One hard tap. Then silence. Six men waiting behind the glass doors of the conference room turned at once. Vincent Hale, Dominic\u2019s head of security, reacted faster than anyone. \u201cHey. Don\u2019t touch him.\u201d Clare Rowan spun around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":["post-407","sr_chapter","type-sr_chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter\/407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/sr_chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter\/407\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}