Chapter 8 - Sarah Refuses To Break
Sarah Blackwood sat on a metal chair beneath a single hanging bulb.
Her wrists were tied behind her.
Her expensive evening dress was torn at one shoulder.
She had lost track of time.
Silas Crane stood across from her.
He had tried threats first.
Then lies.
Then photographs of Lily.
That had nearly broken her.
Nearly.
Silas placed a photograph on the table.
Lily was walking outside her school.
The picture had been taken several days earlier.
Sarah stared at him.
"If you touch my daughter, Alexander will burn your entire world down."
Silas smiled.
"Your husband isn't the man people think he is."
"You have no idea what kind of man he is."
"I know exactly what he used to be."
Sarah said nothing.
Silas leaned forward.
"Before the suits, companies, charity galas, and magazine covers, Alexander knew people like us."
Sarah had heard fragments of Alexander's past.
He never lied about it.
He simply refused to glorify it.
Silas slid another photograph forward.
Alexander was twenty years younger.
He stood beside men Sarah did not recognize.
One of them was Adrian Cole.
Sarah's eyes narrowed.
Silas noticed.
"Your husband and the deputy commissioner share history."
"What do you want?"
"The clock."
"You already stole it."
"We want what's inside."
Sarah understood.
They needed something Alexander could access.
Silas placed a small brass key on the table.
"The hidden compartment has two locks."
He tapped the key.
"We possess one."
"And Alexander possesses the other."
Silas smiled.
"His family ring."
Sarah looked at her wedding ring.
Silas shook his head.
"Not that ring."
She realized he meant the Blackwood signet ring Alexander wore on formal occasions.
It was currently locked in his private safe.
Silas stepped behind her.
"You are going to call your husband."
"No."
"You will tell him to bring the ring."
"No."
Silas grabbed her chair.
Sarah did not flinch.
"Then perhaps we invite Lily."
Sarah's face changed.
Silas saw fear.
He mistook it for surrender.
Sarah lowered her eyes.
"Give me the phone."
Silas smiled and placed a phone beside her.
Sarah looked at the device.
She knew Alexander better than Silas did.
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If she could hear his voice for even three seconds, she could warn him without saying a single forbidden word.
And if Alexander understood the warning, Silas would soon learn why kidnapping a Blackwood had been the worst decision of his life.
