Chapter 1 - THE RED HANDPRINT
Victoria’s palm drove into my shoulder while I was already trying to protect my stomach.
My heel slipped on champagne near the broken vase. I fell onto both knees, pain shooting through my hips as marble struck bone.
The baby moved sharply beneath my hands.
“Please!” I cried. “Stay away from my baby!”
Victoria stood above me in a silver evening gown, her champagne glass still balanced between two fingers. She raised her free hand again.
The red mark from her first slap burned across my cheek.
“You should have learned before tonight,” she said.
Guests crowded the terrace doors. No one stepped forward.
Richard watched from beside the fireplace.
My husband adjusted his tie clip.
He had brought me to the Carrington estate after promising the evening would be a private family celebration. Instead, Victoria had placed documents beside my dinner plate and ordered me to sign without reading them.
When I refused, she struck me.
When I stood, she shoved me.
The front doors opened.
My father crossed the entrance in a work shirt, rugged trousers, and leather boots. Car keys hung from one hand.
He froze when he saw my face.
Richard moved between us.
“Know your place, old man.”
Dad’s expression did not change.
He stepped across the shattered glass, reached down, and helped me stand without pulling on my arms.
“Can you breathe?”
“Yes.”
“Is the baby moving?”
I pressed one hand against my belly.
A faint kick answered.
“Yes.”
Dad turned.
“Who touched my daughter?”
Victoria stepped closer.
She looked directly into his eyes and smiled.
“I just trained her to be an obedient dog.”
My father became terrifyingly calm.
He removed his jacket, wrapped it around my shoulders, and guided me outside.
Richard followed us onto the driveway.
“You cannot walk away with my wife.”
Dad opened the passenger door of his SUV.
“She is walking away from you.”
“I’ll call the police.”
“Do that.”
He helped me inside and locked the doors.
Then he moved to the rear of the vehicle, lifted a concealed panel beneath the cargo floor, and removed a black terminal I had never seen.
Richard’s laughter faded.
An unmarked vehicle rolled across the entrance and stopped sideways, blocking the estate gates.
Four people stepped out in dark civilian clothing.
Guests began whispering.
Dad placed his thumb against the terminal.
The screen illuminated his face.
“Director Vance,” he said. “Code Black on target Alpha.”
Richard went pale.
Victoria’s champagne glass lowered.
A woman from the black vehicle approached Dad.
“Sir, the estate network initiated a purge twenty seconds ago.”
Dad looked toward the terrace.
“Stop it.”
“We’re trying.”
Richard grabbed the SUV handle.
“Elena, get out. Your father is frightening you.”
I stared through the glass at the man I had married.
“You watched her hit me.”
“I was trying to calm everyone.”
“You watched.”
Victoria rushed toward the rear doors of the estate.
One of the dark-clothed officers blocked her.
Dad returned to my window.
“An ambulance is coming. Do not answer questions about the dinner without your own attorney.”
“What is happening?”
His eyes moved briefly toward the shattered vase visible through the open doors.
“I cannot explain yet.”
“Why did Richard recognize that terminal?”
Dad did not answer.
A sharp tone sounded from the device.
The woman beside him read the screen.
“Director, Alpha transmitted one package before containment.”
“To where?”
“We don’t know.”
She hesitated.
“The access credential belonged to Elena.”
Dad looked at me through the locked window.
May you like
Richard heard her.
And for the first time that night, my husband smiled again.
