Chapter 20 - The Shattered Glass
Before Alexander could formulate a plan, the silence of the night was shattered by the distant, violent sound of breaking glass echoing from the direction of the town square.
Claire gasped, instantly rising to her feet. "The shop!"
"Stay here," Gabriel commanded, drawing his weapon again. "Lock the deadbolts and stay inside the interior room with Leo."
"I’m coming with you," Alexander said, his voice leaving no room for argument. "Claire, lock the door behind us. If anyone comes near this porch who isn't me or Gabriel, use the emergency alarm behind the mantle."
Claire nodded, tears shimmering in her eyes, clutching Leo tightly to her chest. "Alexander... please be careful."
The two men bolted into the freezing night, sprinting down the snow-covered path that led toward the commercial wharf. The wind screamed off the ocean, driving needle-like flakes of ice into their faces. When they rounded the corner of the cobblestone alleyway, their worst fears were realized.
The massive display window of *Bramble & Bloom* had been smashed completely to pieces. Shards of thick glass littered the snow like broken diamonds, mixed with trampled poinsettias, crushed winter berries, and splattered red paint that looked sickeningly like blood.
Alexander reached the threshold first, his boots crunching over the debris. The interior of the shop was trashed—shelves overturned, flower pots smashed, and the cash register ripped from the counter.
Gabriel stepped inside, his flashlight beam cutting through the darkness, scanning the wreckage until the light stopped on the back wall above the butcher-block counter.
There, scrawled in dripping black spray paint across the whitewashed timber, was a message:
*THE DEBT IS NOT PAID. HAND OVER THE BOY, OR THE NEXT FIRE WILL BE AT THE COTTAGE.*
Alexander felt a cold dread clamp onto his heart. But before he could speak, Gabriel let out a sharp, choked gasp from the doorway leading to the private greenhouse.
Alexander rushed over to his side.
Lying on the floor among the shattered ceramic pots and broken fern leaves was a woman’s dark coat, soaked in melted snow. Beside it lay Elena’s cracked cell phone, its screen still glowing faintly in the dark.
Displayed on the illuminated screen was an incoming video call.
Alexander reached down with a trembling hand, picking up the phone and swiping the connection open.
The screen flickered to life. Sitting in a lavishly decorated room, holding a glass of champagne with a cruel, triumphant smile plastered across her flawless face, was Julianna Sterling. And behind her, tied to a wooden chair with a bruised face and terrified eyes, was Elena.
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"Hello, Alexander darling," Julianna purred through the speaker, her voice dripping with venomous amusement. "Did you really think you could run away to the end of the earth and play house with my husband's leftovers? We have Elena. And if you ever want to see this harbor standing tomorrow morning, you will bring my new stepson to the north cliff dock by midnight. Just you. Alone."
The call abruptly disconnected, plunging the dark, ruined flower shop into terrifying silence.
