Chapter 6 - The Vanishing at Midnight
The moment shattered at dawn.
Cora woke to the blare of sirens and the smell of smoke. The lower level of the estate was ablaze. Through the heavy smoke, heavy footsteps echoed up the grand staircase.
Julian burst into the room, throwing a tactical vest over her head. "Falcone found us. Tomas betrayed us—he was the one who poisoned the drink. We have to move!"
They fought their way toward the underground garage, but an explosion severed the main hallway. In the blinding dust and flying debris, a hand clad in tactical gear grabbed Cora from behind. A rag soaked in chloroform was slammed over her nose and mouth.
She fought wildly, her eyes searching for Julian through the haze. She saw him throwing three men off him, screaming her name as he fired blindly into the smoke.
"Julian!" she tried to scream, but her vision blurred into pitch black.
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When Cora woke up, she was tied to a steel chair in an underground bunker lit by a single overhead bulb. Standing in front of her was Don Falcone—an elderly, regal man with ice-blue eyes—and beside him stood her father, Arthur Whitaker, looking remarkably clean, unbothered, and dressed in a thousand-dollar suit.
"Hello, daughter," Arthur said smoothly, holding a glass of wine. "I see you've met my employer."
