Still breathing. Unconscious but alive.
The door to Nora’s room was closed. Locked from the inside.
But the connecting door to the adjoining room— Carson’s heart sank. He’d told Nora to keep it unlocked. Dan must have gotten a key to theadjoining room, waited there, cut the power, then—
Carson didn’t waste time knocking. He stepped back and kicked the main door hard, right near the lock. The wood splintered. Another kick and it burst open.
He swept inside, weapon up, clearing corners automatically.
The room was empty. But the connecting door stood open, leading to the dark adjoining room.
Carson moved through, every sense on high alert. He could hear voices. Nora’s—scared but steady. Dan’s—cold and angry.
They were in the bedroom.
Carson approached silently, his training taking over. Assess the situation. Find the angles. Wait for the right moment.
He pressed against the wall and peered around the doorframe.
Dan had Nora backed against the window, a knife in his hand. Not pressed against her—not yet—but close enough to be an immediate threat. Nora’s phone lay shattered on the floor. Her eyes were wide with fear, but she was standing tall. Not cowering.
Fighting.
“—just following in Daddy’s footsteps,” Dan was saying. “Getting people fired. Ruining lives. Never thinking aboutthe consequences.”
“I reported fraud,” Nora said, her voice shaking but clear. “People breaking the law. That’s not ruining lives. That’s doing the right thing.”
“The right thing?” Dan’s laugh was bitter. “You got me fired five years ago for one mistake. One. I had to change my name, start over, lose everything. Do you even remember me?”
“I remember. You were stealing from client accounts.”
“It was a loan! I was going to pay it back!”
“That’s still theft.”
Dan’s hand tightened on the knife. “You sound just like your father. So righteous. So sure you’re helping people. But you’re not. You’re destroying them. You destroyed my uncle Robert. You destroyed my family.”
“Your uncle chose to steal,” Nora said. “My father just reported it.”
“And look where that got him. Dead in a car accident. Some might call that karma.”
Carson saw red. He stepped into the doorway, weapon trained on Dan’s center mass.
“Step away from her,” Carson said, his voice deadly calm. “Right now.”
Dan spun, pulling Nora in front of him as a shield, the knife now pressed against her throat.
Nora gasped, her eyes finding Carson’s. He saw the fear there. The trust. The desperate hope that he could fix this.
He would. Or he’d die trying.
“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that,” Dan said. “But you’re too late. Again. How does it feel, Detective? Being too late? Does it remind you of Lily?”
“Leave her out of this.”
“Why? She’s the whole reason you’re here. The whole reason you care so much about saving Nora. Because maybe if you save her, you won’t feel guilty about the sister you couldn’t save.”
The words hit like bullets, but Carson didn’t let them show on his face. Didn’t let Dan see how close to the truth he’d gotten.
