Chapter 18 - The Roof
I pushed past Detective Ruiz.
She caught my arm.
“That could be a recording.”
Then Sophie cried again.
“Mommy, help me.”
It was her voice.
Real.
Terrified.
David checked his phone.
The protection team guarding Sophie had reported an attack twenty minutes earlier.
Two men were injured.
Sophie had been taken.
Preston had planned every second.
Ruiz opened the roof door carefully.
Chicago’s skyline spread beneath a gray afternoon sky.
Wind whipped across the concrete.
Preston stood near the edge.
One arm circled Sophie’s chest.
His other hand held a gun against her side.
She wore pajamas beneath an oversized coat.
Her blue cap was gone.
The bandage around her head fluttered in the wind.
“Let her go,” I said.
Preston smiled.
“You took everything from me.”
“You did that yourself.”
“The board was mine.”
“The hotel was mine.”
“Our parents built it for me.”
“Grandfather knew what you were.”
His expression twisted.
“Grandfather was weak.”
“He believed people mattered.”
“People are tools.”
Sophie looked at me.
Tears streaked her face.
“I’m sorry, Mommy.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
Preston tightened his grip.
“She always apologizes.”
“You trained her well.”
I took one step forward.
Ruiz and two officers remained near the doorway with their weapons lowered.
“Give me the trust documents,” Preston said.
“They’re already filed with the court.”
“Then call the board.”
“They removed you.”
“Call them.”
“And say what?”
“That you made a mistake.”
“That I am chief executive again.”
“That all evidence was fabricated.”
“No.”
He pressed the gun closer to Sophie.
“You think being brave makes you different from when we were children?”
“I’m not brave.”
My voice shook.
“I’m terrified.”
“Then do what I say.”
“No.”
The word echoed across the roof.
Preston’s face became red.
“You never learned.”
“I learned exactly what you taught me.”
I took another step.
“You taught me that surrender never satisfies a man like you.”
“You taught me that silence only makes the next cruelty easier.”
“You taught me that you will keep hurting people until someone stops you.”
He looked toward the police.
“You think they can stop me?”
“No.”
I looked at Sophie.
“She already did.”
Sophie suddenly drove her elbow backward into Preston’s ribs.
David had taught her the movement after the hospital intrusion.
Preston’s grip loosened.
I ran.
The gun fired.
The bullet struck the concrete beside my feet.
Ruiz and the officers moved instantly.
I reached Sophie as Preston stumbled toward the edge.
For one second, he hung there with both hands gripping the roof ledge.
I held Sophie against my chest.
Preston looked up at me.
“Help me.”
The words sounded strangely small.
Officers pulled him away from the edge.
They handcuffed him facedown on the wet concrete.
Sophie buried her face against my shoulder.
“It wasn’t my fault.”
“No.”
May you like
I held her tighter.
“None of it was ever your fault.”
