Chapter 6 - The CircleThe next message arrived ten minutes later.
A photograph.
Mia sat in a chair.
She wasn't crying.
That scared me more than anything.
Beside her sat Victor.
He smiled at the camera.
Bring Elena.
Bring the flash drive.
Come to the old Moretti theater.
Come alone.
Marco stared at the photograph.
“We're not going alone.”
“I know.”
We assembled the team.
But I also knew something else.
Victor had spent decades building The Circle.
If half the names on that list were real, we couldn't trust police.
We couldn't trust politicians.
We couldn't trust anyone outside our small group.
We drove to the abandoned theater.
Victor was waiting.
Mia sat beside him.
She held Mr. Rabbit.
I stepped inside.
“Let her go.”
Victor smiled.
“You look like your father.”
“I look like the man you're afraid of.”
Victor laughed.
“Your father was never afraid of me.”
“You killed him.”
“He killed himself.”
I took another step.
“You poisoned him.”
Victor's expression changed.
“So you found the records.”
“I found everything.”
“Then you know what happens next.”
“You lose.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward the balcony.
Several men appeared.
Men from The Circle.
“This city doesn't belong to people like you.”
“It never belonged to people like you.”
Victor looked at Mia.
“She remembers.”
I frowned.
“Remembers what?”
“The night your father died.”
Mia looked confused.
“I don't remember.”
Victor smiled.
“You were three months old.”
“She was a baby.”
“Babies remember sounds.”
He stepped closer.
“Your mother hid a recording inside a toy.”
I looked at Mr. Rabbit.
The rabbit.
The repaired ear.
The thing Mia carried everywhere.
I felt a chill.
Victor reached toward it.
Mia pulled it away.
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“That's the problem.”
“What?”
“She won't let anyone touch it.”
I looked at the rabbit.
“Give it to me, sweetheart.”
Mia shook her head.
“Mommy said only Daddy.”
My heart stopped.
“Your mommy said that?”
She nodded.
I walked toward her.
“Come here.”
Victor raised his weapon.
“Don't.”
I stopped.
Victor smiled.
“You're going to give me the drive.”
I held it up.
Then threw it across the room.
Victor's men rushed toward it.
That was the distraction.
Marco and the others stormed the theater.
Chaos erupted.
I grabbed Mia.
We ran.
Victor followed.
He chased us into the backstage corridor.
Then Elena appeared.
“Adrian!”
“Take Mia!”
Elena grabbed her.
Victor raised his gun.
I stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Victor's eyes were cold.
“You ruined everything.”
“No.”
I looked at Mia.
“You did.”
Victor fired.
The bullet hit my shoulder.
Pain exploded through me.
Mia screamed.
“Daddy!”
I dropped to one knee.
Elena pulled Mia away.
Marco tackled Victor.
Within seconds, he was restrained.
But before police arrived, Victor smiled.
“You think this is over?”
I looked at him.
“What else could you possibly have?”
Victor laughed.
“Ask your mother.”
My blood ran cold.
“What about her?”
Victor smiled.
“She isn't the woman you think she is.”
Then he was taken away.
May you like
And I realized the worst part.
He might have been telling the truth.
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