Chapter 5 - THE SINKING SHIP
Facebook Hook Title: 🚢 THE TRAP IS SPRUNG! NOAH IS MISSING, AND THE BILLIONAIRE IS FORCED TO BOARD THE ACCIDENT BOAT... WHERE THE TRUTH WAITS! 🚢Elliot scribbled his signature across the merger documents.
Richard smiled, snatching the papers. "A wise choice, Elliot. You always were a pragmatist at heart."
"Where is Noah?" Clara demanded, her voice cracked with panic. "You have the signature. Give me my son!"
"He's already on his way to a very safe location," Victoria said, setting her empty glass down. "He's at the harbor. On the Maggie B. The very boat you restored, Elliot. We thought it was poetic. You will meet him there. Once Richard and I have confirmed the transfer of assets through the Swiss exchange, the boy will be released to you. Try to call the police, and the boat goes out to sea. And we both know how well that boat handles the open water."
Without another word, Victoria and Richard backed out of the room, flanked by two armed guards who had appeared in the hallway.
The moment the heavy doors clicked shut, locking them from the outside, Clara collapsed against the desk, sobbing. "They’re going to kill him, Elliot. They’re going to sink the boat with Noah on it to cover their tracks. That's what they do!"
"They won't," Elliot said, his eyes burning with a sudden, lethal focus. He walked over to the bookshelf, pulled a leather-bound copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, and a hidden compartment clicked open. Inside lay two tactical earpieces and a black Glock 19.
"How... how do we get out?" Clara asked, wiping her tears.
"My mother thinks she owns this building," Elliot said, handing Clara a heavy tactical flashlight. "But I built the security override system myself after Maggie died. I didn't trust anyone. Not even my own family."
He pressed a button under his desk. The floor-to-ceiling glass window behind them slid open, revealing a narrow exterior maintenance gantry suspended 50 stories above the city.
"Are you afraid of heights, Clara?" Elliot asked, extending his hand to her.
Clara looked at the terrifying drop, then at Elliot’s outstretched hand. "I’m a single mother, Elliot. I’m afraid of nothing except losing my son."
She took his hand.
Twenty minutes later, under the cover of a torrential downpour, Elliot’s backup armored vehicle—driven by a fiercely loyal security chief who had bypassed Victoria’s goons—screeched to a halt at the private docks of Grayson Harbor.
In the distance, bobbing in the dark, choppy waves of the Atlantic, was the Maggie B. Its lights were off, but a single yellow light flickered in the captain's cabin.
"Noah," Clara whispered, her heart in her throat.
"We go in quiet," Elliot instructed, checking the magazine of his weapon. "My mother’s men will be expecting me to come begging. They don't know I’ve spent the last three years wishing I had died on this boat with Maggie. I have nothing left to fear."
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"You have us," Clara said softly, her hand touching his arm. "You have a family to save, Elliot."
Elliot looked at her, the warmth returning to his chest, stronger than ever. "Let's go get our boy."
