Chapter 14 - THE MAN WHO STOLE TWELVE YEARS
Arthur sounded older.
Weaker.
But the arrogance was unchanged.
“You should be dead.”
Luca’s voice was calm.
Arthur laughed softly.
“And yet you should still be paralyzed.”
Luca’s eyes moved toward Maya.
She stood beside Elena, listening.
“You made one mistake.”
“Only one?”
“You brought Maya here.”
Arthur became silent.
“You thought she would lead you to me.”
“She did.”
“No.”
Luca looked at his daughter.
“She led me back to myself.”
Arthur’s breathing sharpened.
He demanded a meeting.
No police.
No Vincent.
No Elena.
In exchange, Arthur promised to release Daniel Hale.
Luca refused.
Arthur sent a photograph.
Daniel was alive.
Bound to a chair but apparently unharmed.
Behind him stood a clock displaying that morning’s time.
Vincent looked devastated.
“I’ll go.”
Arthur interrupted through the phone.
“No.”
“I want Luca.”
The call ended.
Authorities advised against the meeting.
Luca agreed with them.
Then he planned one anyway.
But this time, he did not plan to go alone.
Vincent wore a concealed transmitter.
Police tracked Luca’s vehicle.
Elena insisted on staying at the command location rather than the estate.
Maya remained with trusted guards.
Before Luca left, she handed him the baseball again.
“You give this to me every time something terrible happens.”
“It works.”
“How?”
“You always come back.”
Luca took it.
The meeting location was an abandoned sports complex near Lake Michigan.
Arthur waited inside.
For the first time in twelve years, Luca saw his uncle in person.
Arthur was thin.
A cane supported him.
His once-imposing frame had collapsed into illness.
He looked at Luca’s wheelchair and smiled.
“You wear it well.”
Luca felt no anger.
That surprised him.
He felt pity.
Arthur mistook it for weakness.
“I saved this family.”
“You poisoned it.”
“I kept you alive.”
“You kept me dependent.”
Arthur stepped closer.
“You think that little girl changed you?”
“She changed everything.”
“She’s a complication.”
Luca’s eyes hardened.
“She’s my daughter.”
Arthur smiled.
“And now you finally understand why blood matters.”
A door opened behind him.
Daniel Hale was pushed into the room.
Alive.
Then another man entered.
Dr. Samuel Bell.
Luca froze.
Bell was supposed to be dying in a nursing facility.
Arthur smiled.
May you like
“Doctors are very good at creating convincing stories.”
And Luca suddenly realized Bell’s confession might have been another part of Arthur’s plan.
