Chapter 9 - The Voice On The Phone
Alexander's phone vibrated as he and Marcus moved through the warehouse loft.
Unknown number.
He answered immediately.
"Alexander."
Sarah's voice came through.
His entire body went still.
"Sarah."
"I'm okay."
There was something unnatural in her tone.
Too controlled.
Someone was listening.
Alexander lowered his voice.
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
Silas spoke in the background.
Sarah continued.
"They want the Blackwood ring."
Alexander understood instantly.
The Golden Clock.
The signet.
Two pieces of one mechanism.
Silas took the phone.
"You have one hour."
Alexander said nothing.
"Bring the ring to Calder Warehouse alone."
Alexander looked down through the railing.
Thirty feet beneath him, Silas stood in an office with the phone to his ear.
Sarah sat behind him.
Alexander could see her.
Relief nearly overwhelmed him.
He controlled it.
Silas continued.
"If you involve the police, your wife dies."
Alexander watched Silas through the gap.
"I understand."
Silas laughed.
"Good."
Sarah suddenly spoke loudly.
"Lily left her blue rabbit in the garden."
Alexander's eyes sharpened.
Lily had never owned a blue rabbit.
That was a phrase Sarah and Alexander had invented years earlier for emergency situations.
It meant one thing.
Do not obey.
Silas ended the call.
Alexander looked at Marcus.
"She's telling us there is a second trap."
Marcus nodded toward the office.
"Can you reach her?"
"Not yet."
Four armed men guarded the lower corridor.
Two more were near the exits.
Silas left Sarah and entered another room.
Alexander and Marcus moved along the loft.
They discovered a surveillance station overlooking the estate's camera network.
A live video feed showed Blackwood Estate.
Alexander felt his stomach tighten.
The syndicate had hacked his security system.
One camera showed Lily's bedroom.
The room was empty.
Alexander called the estate.
No answer.
He called Edmund.
No answer.
Then he called Lily's nanny.
Nothing.
Alexander stared at the monitor.
A shadow moved through the mansion hallway.
Someone wearing a black coat was walking toward Lily's room.
Alexander whispered one word.
May you like
"No."
On the screen, the bedroom door slowly opened.
