Chapter 11 - The Abandoned Pier—Facing the Man Who Sold My Soul
I was tied to a heavy wooden chair in the center of an abandoned shipping warehouse on Pier 42. The air smelled of salt water, rotting wood, and diesel fuel. Rain hammered relentlessly against the rusted corrugated metal roof above.
My hands were bound tightly behind my back with zip ties, and my emerald gown was torn and stained with grease.
Footsteps echoed across the concrete floor.
Viktor Vane walked into the circle of harsh halogen work lights, dragging a battered, weeping man behind him. He threw the man at my feet.
It was Spencer.
“Look who tried to cut a deal with the feds,” Vane sneered, kicking Spencer in the stomach. Spencer groaned, curling into a fetal position, his face swollen and bruised.
“Spencer,” I whispered, shaking my head in disgust. “You really are pathetic.”
“Shantel... please...” Spencer whimpered, looking up at me with one swollen eye. “Tell him where the canvas is... if you give him the offshore codes, he’ll let us both go... please, I don't want to die!”
“He’s not going to let anyone go, you idiot,” I said coldly.
Vane pulled up an iron stool and sat directly in front of me, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He pulled a silver folding knife from his pocket and clicked the blade open.
“Your father thought he was a hero, Shantel,” Vane said, the blade gleaming under the light. “He thought he could hide my family’s rightful wealth beneath layers of varnish and lacquer. But you know where The Madonna of the Shadows is. Tell me the coordinates of the lockbox in that church, or I start peeling your fingers back one by one.”
I looked Vane dead in the eye, channeling every ounce of courage my father had ever given me.
“My father died protecting those assets from a parasite like you,” I said, my voice steady and fearless. “And I would rather die in this chair than give you a single cent.”
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Vane’s eyes narrowed into slits of pure murderous rage. He raised the knife, stepping toward me. “Have it your way, girl—”
Suddenly, the massive industrial roll-up doors of the warehouse were blown inward by a massive, deafening C4 explosion.
