Chapter 12 - The Riverbank at Midnight
An icy wind swept across the river.
Ethan, Claire, and Lily emerged from the narrow passage onto a deserted embankment, where dark waves lapped against the rocks below.
Ethan carefully placed Lily in Claire's arms.
Then he removed his expensive overcoat and wrapped it around both of them.
"The coordinates on the pendant point to an old lighthouse upstate," Ethan said, checking his encrypted phone. "My father once built a secret residence there."
Claire looked at him, gratitude and fear mingling in her eyes.
"Are you coming with us?"
Ethan turned toward Lily.
The baby gazed up at him with her enormous blue eyes, then reached out a tiny finger and gently touched his chin.
A bittersweet smile crossed Ethan's face.
"She called me Daddy."
He brushed a golden curl away from Lily's forehead.
"I don't care what the truth turns out to be. No one is going to lay a finger on her. Not while I'm alive."
Just then, Ethan's phone vibrated.
An unknown number had sent him a message.
There was no text.
Only a photograph.
Ethan opened it.
His blood ran cold.
The image showed him, Claire, and Lily standing on the riverbank.
Right now.
The photograph had been taken through a sniper's scope.
A tiny red laser dot suddenly appeared on Ethan's chest.
It moved slowly upward.
May you like
Then shifted toward Lily.
And stopped directly between the baby's eyes.
