Chapter 9 - the betrayal within
Spencer did not drop the baby. He moved with a speed that defied his size, carrying Dexter across the hall into the master suite, where Charlee had been moved an hour earlier for protection. He set the newborn gently beside the sleeping girl, locked the reinforced steel core door behind him, and engaged the panic protocol with a six-digit code on the wall panel.
"Stay with him, Charlee," Spencer commanded softly.
Charlee sat up instantly, her hazel eyes clear and alert despite the darkness. "Spencer? What's happening?"
"Stay here. Do not open this door for anyone except me."
Spencer pulled a heavy combat knife from the concealment drawer beneath his nightstand, slid it into his belt, and stepped out through the secondary service access, his movements silent, lethal, and completely focused.
He did not take the grand staircase. He took the narrow service corridor that led straight down into the estate’s industrial kitchen and sub-level wine cellars.
The basement lights were off, but a single strip of yellow light cut across the concrete floor from the private laundry facility.
Spencer walked through the open doorway without making a sound.
Standing near the heavy industrial sink, packing a small leather duffel bag with forged identity papers, cash, and a burner phone, was Mabel Carter.
She was not wearing her housekeeping uniform. She wore a dark woolen traveling coat, dark trousers, and leather gloves. Her face was pale, lined with stress, but when she turned and saw Spencer standing in the doorway, she did not scream.
She simply closed the zipper of the duffel bag with a slow, trembling hand.
"Mabel," Spencer said. His voice was not loud. It was a terrible, crushing whisper that rattled in the small room. "Twelve years."
"Twelve years of cleaning your silver, Spencer," Mabel said, her voice shaking, though her chin remained raised. "Twelve years of watching you burn through billions of dollars while my grandson died in an unlicensed clinic in Chicago because we didn't have the three hundred thousand dollars for his bone marrow transplant."
Spencer’s eyes did not waver. "You sold my genetic material to Apex."
"They offered me five million dollars," she whispered, tears cutting through the wrinkles around her eyes. "All I had to do was copy the files from your safe while you were in England, and provide the clinic access code Pamela had left on her desk. I didn't want to hurt anyone! They told me the child would be raised in a luxury estate in Zurich. They told me he would have everything!"
"They put him in a cardboard box, Mabel," Spencer said, taking one step forward. "They taped it shut and threw him behind a dumpster."
Mabel’s hand flew to her throat. She looked at him with genuine horror. "No... no, the courier told me the transfer was delayed—"
"The courier tried to kill Pamela Ortiz and dumped the baby when the police cruisers turned into the alley," Spencer said, his voice cold as winter ice. "My son would have frozen to death in the rain if a seven-year-old child hadn't dragged him six miles through the storm."
Mabel collapsed against the edge of the stainless steel counter, her knees giving out beneath her as a wretched sob broke from her chest. "Oh, God... Spencer... forgive me... forgive me..."
"Where is the offshore coordinator?" Spencer asked, towering over her. "The person you’ve been reporting to."
"He’s in a black sedan," she wept, pointing a trembling finger toward the service road behind the estate’s greenhouse. "He’s waiting for me to bring the clinic's original transfer receipt from your study. He has the final wire transfer ready."
Spencer reached down, took the duffel bag from her grip, and tossed it into the sink.
May you like
"You're going to sit on that floor, Mabel," Spencer said softly. "You're not going to move until the state police arrive. If you take one step toward that door, I will not wait for the courts."
He turned and walked toward the security exit leading to the grounds, his phone already pressed to his ear. "Tactical team one. Service road, behind the greenhouse. Block both exits. Bring them in alive."
