Chapter 5 - The Patriarch's Arrival
The heavy, mechanical ringing of my cell phone broke the silence.
I pulled it from my silk purse and looked at the caller ID. It was an unknown number, but I knew exactly who it was. I swiped to answer and put it on speakerphone, holding it up so the entire room could hear.
"Serena Cross," a deep, gravelly voice echoed from the phone. The voice carried an ocean of power and decades of ruthless authority. It was Richard Croft. Preston’s father.
"Mr. Croft," I replied politely. "I assume you're calling from outside my building?"
"Open the damn doors, you little bitch," Richard roared, the sheer volume making the speaker crackle. "I have the governor on line two. I have a SWAT team prepping C4 on your loading docks. If you do not release my son and my guests within sixty seconds, I will have you shot dead the moment we breach."
Preston’s head snapped up. "Dad! Dad, help me! They have the diamonds! They found the shipments!"
A heavy, terrified silence fell over the phone line. Richard Croft was a master tactician, and he had just realized his son had confessed to a federal crime on a recorded line in a room full of witnesses.
"Shut your mouth, you idiot," Richard hissed at his son.
I smiled. "The titanium doors are rated to withstand C4, Mr. Croft. You know that, because your company helped build them. You also know that local law enforcement cannot breach a federal lockdown. But I am a reasonable woman. I will open the rooftop helipad access door. You may come inside, alone, to negotiate. If you bring a weapon, or if a single police officer attempts to follow you, my guards will execute protocol zero."
"Which is?" Richard demanded.
"We burn the building down with everyone inside," I lied flawlessly, my voice colder than ice. "Five minutes, Richard. Don't be late."
I hung up the phone.
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The crowd erupted in fresh panic, but the tactical guards raised their rifles an inch, and the silence slammed back into place.
I looked down at Preston, who was still kneeling in the diamonds. "Your daddy is coming to save you, Preston. Let's see how much he actually loves you."
