Chapter 12 - Kidnapped at the Edge of the City
The downtown art gallery was dark and silent when my taxi dropped me off in the rain.
I unlocked the front glass door with my staff key, my heart pounding against my ribs. "Patricia? Are you here?"
No answer. Only the eerie hum of the humidity controls in the main exhibition hall.
I walked toward the restoration studio in the back. As soon as I pushed the door open, the heavy steel door slammed shut behind me with a loud metallic thud.
The lights clicked on, blinding me.
Standing in the center of the room was Arthur Blackwood, holding a loaded semi-automatic pistol, accompanied by three armed mercenaries. Tied to a chair in the corner, gagged and bruised, was Patricia Monroe.
"Welcome to your final exhibition, Miss Santos," Arthur sneered, leveling the gun directly at my chest.
"Arthur..." I gasped, backing away until my spine hit the locked steel door. "Let Patricia go. The evidence is already with the federal prosecutors! You’ve lost!"
"I haven't lost anything until Sebastian gets here," Arthur snarled, his eyes wide and bloodshot with psychotic desperation. "You see, my dear, Sebastian doesn't care about the board of directors. He doesn't care about the shares or the federal indictments. The only thing in this world that ruthless monster cares about is you."
Arthur pulled out a satellite detonator from his pocket.
"In twenty minutes, four hundred gallons of industrial accelerant in the basement will ignite. Sebastian is tracking your pendant right now. He will fly across the city, charge into this building to save his precious bride, and both of you will burn to ashes together—just like your pathetic father and my brother eight years ago."
"You monster," I spat, tears of rage spilling down my face. "Sebastian will destroy you!"
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"Sebastian will be dead," Arthur laughed maniacally. "And I will be on a private cargo freighter to South America with forty million dollars in bearer bonds."
Arthur signaled his men. "Tie her to the support pillar beside her friend. Set the timer for ten minutes. Let’s make sure the young lovers have a warm reunion."
