Chapter 5
Victoria did not hesitate for even a single second, turning abruptly to Northstar's head of security with an authority that brooked no delay or argument whatsoever.
"Call the police precinct directly, dispatch our corporate security vehicle right now, and bring the sedan around front immediately," Victoria ordered without blinking an eye.
She looked straight into Daniel’s panicked eyes, her voice completely steady and reassuring. "We are going together right now. No one touches your daughter, Daniel."
Daniel ran toward the executive elevator alongside the chief executive officer, his heart hammering like a trapped bird against the fragile cage of his ribs.
Outside, the cold morning wind whipped heavy snowflakes across the gray pavement as Northstar’s private sedan pulled smoothly up to the icy front curb.
The driver accelerated instantly, cutting through the snowy avenues with flashing emergency lights, clearing a rapid path through the holiday traffic toward the municipal school.
Daniel stared blankly through the tinted glass, watching familiar street corners blur past while his mind raced with horrifying scenarios of what might have happened.
"Andrew Cole knew you lived alone with your daughter," Victoria said softly, breaking the tense silence inside the speeding vehicle as she reviewed messages.
"He knew Emma was your entire world and your only vulnerability," she continued, realizing the calculated cruelty behind the operation that had targeted Daniel's family.
Daniel bowed his head into his cold hands, his faded gray sweater suddenly feeling far too thin against the creeping winter chill inside his bones.
"I gave everything to this company," Daniel choked out softly, the accumulated exhaustion of endless unpaid overtime finally cracking through his remaining defensive pride.
"I missed dinners, I missed bedtime stories, and I nearly broke my own spirit just to keep food on our kitchen table," he said.
Victoria reached over, briefly touching his arm with firm solidarity. "You kept your soul intact, Daniel. The failure belongs entirely to us, not to you."
The sedan came to a sudden halt before the red-brick elementary school, its tires skidding slightly over the slush gathered along the yellow curb.
Daniel threw his door open before the wheels fully stopped turning, sprinting up the salted concrete steps without waiting for the security team behind him.
He burst through the double glass doors of the administrative foyer, his frantic gaze sweeping across the brightly decorated holiday lobby for his child.
A faint, self-deprecating smile touched Victoria's lips for the first time all day. "Yes, little one. And I am working very hard to fix it right now."
"Daddy!" a small, familiar voice cried out from behind the heavy oak reception desk, shattering the suffocating dread that had seized his chest completely.