Chapter 15 - The Interrogation
A deafening flash-flare exploded on the lawn below, followed by the deep, resonant drone of heavy marine engines echoing across the lake.
The helicopter above banked hard, pulling away into the storm clouds, abandoning its commander. Dominic slammed Gabriel onto the rain-slicked tiles of the balcony, driving his knee into the old man’s spine and wrenching both hands behind his back into heavy steel cuffs.
Mercer appeared in the doorway, blood dripping from a shallow graze on his temple, his rifle held low. Behind him, Vincent was staggering to his feet, wiping blood from his eyes.
"Perimeter secure," Mercer reported, breathing heavily. "The secondary assault team retreated to the water as soon as the chopper pulled off. We have three survivors pinned in the lower cellars."
"Take this piece of filth down to the sub-level," Dominic commanded, dragging Gabriel to his feet by the collar. "Strip him of everything. Tie him to the iron chair."
Ten minutes later, the reinforced subterranean wine cellar—built sixty years ago with three-foot-thick poured concrete walls—served as an interrogation chamber.
Gabriel Reyes was strapped securely to a steel bolted chair. Water and blood dripped from his silver hair onto his ruined designer shirt. Despite his shattered wrist and bruised ribs, the man maintained an aura of aristocratic arrogance, his piercing blue eyes fixed on Dominic.
Dominic stood under the single hanging incandescent bulb, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. On the stainless-steel table beside him lay the severed bug from Ellie’s teddy bear, the silver locket, and Gabriel's broken jammer.
"You have ten minutes to talk before I begin removing your fingers one joint at a time," Dominic said with absolute neutrality. "What did that transmitter signal?"
Gabriel let out a dry, rasping laugh. "You really have no idea what you're dealing with, do you, Dominic? You run a city. You bribe judges, you smuggle containers through docks, you intimidate councilmen. You think you're a king."
Gabriel leaned forward as far as the chains allowed.
"I don't operate in cities, boy. I operate in sovereign states. The Sovereign Trust is not a bank account. It is a syndicate registry containing the names, bank accounts, and compromising intelligence on every major intelligence director and crime boss in Western Europe and North America. Your father didn't build the Vale empire on his own. He was my client."
Dominic’s expression didn't change, but his jaw tightened.
"Your father wanted out," Gabriel continued, his voice dripping with venomous amusement. "He tried to take his piece of the Trust and run. So I had him eliminated at Saint Jude docks. And to make sure nobody ever accessed his share, I tied the final authentication cipher to his granddaughter's genetic sequence."
Dominic stepped closer, his shadow swallowing Gabriel whole. "Ellie is Clare's daughter. Marco Vale was my father. If Ellie is the biological descendant required to unlock Marco's trust..."
Dominic's breath hitched in his chest. A terrifying realization struck him with the force of an avalanche.
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Gabriel smiled, revealing teeth stained red with blood. "You finally figured it out, didn't you? Why don't you ask dear, sweet Clare whose blood really runs in that child's veins?"
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