Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
Danica walked toward the front door of the Larsons’ home. It had an electronic lock with a keypad.
She punched in the numbers, and a motor whirred, unlocking the door.
“Open it,” Blake ordered. “Go inside.”
She did. The entryway was dark. “How do you know the Larsons’ code?”
“They asked me to keep an eye on the house whenever they’re away, which is most of the time. I do it for plenty of William’s neighbors.”
White marble made up the entry, with a few steps leading down into a cavernous living room. A huge bank of windows overlooked a pool.
“The Larsons will see the activity on the log for their alarm system,” Danica said.
“Do you really think that’s the biggest of my problems right now?” Blake closed the door and locked it. “Go into the kitchen.”
“Why?”
“Danica, do not make this harder than it needs to be. I have no intention of hurting you if you cooperate. You were never supposed to get hurt.”
“You sent masked men after me. Men with guns and knives.”
“To show they meant business. If you’d been easier to capture, nobody would ever have been hurt, William would have paid the ransom days ago, and you’d be back safe and sound.”
“So sorry I messed things up for you.”
The metal of his gun winked in the low light.
Danica walked into the kitchen. It was an expanse of marble countertops, built-in appliances, sleek cabinets.
Blake reached into his pocket and produced a set of handcuffs. He tossed them to the floor at her feet. “Cuff yourself to the wine fridge. Do not argue with me. I’ve always been patient with you, since you were a kid, but I’m not at my best today.”
The glass door of the wine fridge showed rows of bottles. Danica threaded the handcuffs through the handle and snapped them onto her wrists. She tried to leave some room, but Blake wasn’t having it.
“Tighter,” he barked.
She ratcheted them a little more. “Now what? You call my father with your ransom demand?”
“No. As I said to Lindley, those plans died with Jason Gerrig.”
Never question Blake’s loyalty to this family, William always said. All those years, pretending he cared. Or maybe Blake had cared once, but something had changed. She couldn’t begin to fathom why he’d do this. Had her father not paid him enough?
“But you want money, right? That’s what this is about?”
“It’s about many things. But money is part of it.” Blake set his gun on the kitchen table. From his pocket, he pulled the gun he’d taken from Lindley. He set this weapon beside the first.
“You’re going to pay your own ransom. Fifty million.”
“Fifty million? You think I have that lying around?”
“Don’t be smart with me, Danica. You can pick up a phone, call your 24-7 banker, and arrange for a loan against your stock portfolio.
It’ll take minutes. Then you’re going to transfer that money into Bitcoin and send it to the wallet of my choosing.
Untraceable, unrecoverable. Be grateful I’m not asking for a hundred million.
That’s what I’d planned to get from your father.
But now, I don’t have to pay Jason Gerrig his cut. ”
“How do I know you won’t just kill me afterward?”
“You’ll have to trust me.”
“Then you can fuck off. Because I will never trust you again.”
He grabbed the weapon with a silencer and crossed the kitchen, aiming.
“It’s not just your ransom you’re paying.
It’s Noah’s. If Jason had done his job, Noah would be dead already.
But I know plenty of people like Jason Gerrig.
Noah’s good, but he can’t look over his shoulder every minute.
Someone will sneak up on him eventually, and that sanctimonious prick will get what’s been coming to him. ”
Fury surged through her, and Danica yanked at the handcuffs. Blake must’ve given Noah’s picture to Jason. But it sounded like Blake’s problem with Noah was personal. “What has Noah ever done except try to protect me?”
Emotion finally animated Blake’s face. “Noah betrayed Soren. I was willing to let it go as long as Noah stayed away, but he hasn’t. Unlike you, I’m loyal to my family.”
“Loyal? How can you call this loyalty?” She raised her cuffed hands, sliding them up the fridge handle.
“Because Soren is my son.”
Danica stared, her mouth open. “Your…son?”
“You already know your parents weren’t in love. Their marriage was a business arrangement. They were involved with other people.”
She was shaking her head. “No. You’re lying.” My mother didn’t love you.
“Why else would I have stayed in this family so long? Put up with everything your father’s done? When Soren was born, we made an agreement. Your mother, William, and me. William promised to treat Soren like his own child, but he never has. He’s always favored you.”
Danica searched for the words to deny it, but it was true. Even when they’d been kids, William had been so much harder on Soren.
“That’s why Soren is the way he is,” Blake said.
“Why he’s struggled. I finally told him the truth after that scandal when he was in college.
I helped him get back on his feet. But the damage was already done.
He’s always doubted himself, and I think he always will.
The new company he’s started? It’s a fiasco, and once again he can’t sort it out on his own. ”
“Did Soren know about this? The plot to kidnap me?”
“No, I kept him out of it. He has no clue.”
“But he will. Everyone will know. If you leave me alive.” She knew she was baiting him, but she was so sick of the lies.
“The moment I have the money, I’m going to disappear. Thanks to Lindley Colter, that’s the only path I have left. It’ll mean leaving Soren, but at least I won’t have to put up with your father’s demands anymore. A man can live well on fifty million dollars in a country that doesn’t extradite.”
With that, Blake turned on his heel and strode out of the kitchen.