Chapter 1 - The Device Behind the Loose Casing
CLUNK!
The hard strike of Dominic’s cane against the marble floor echoed through the private executive foyer.
He stopped abruptly.
Pain shot upward through his prosthetic left leg.
Dominic’s face tightened as he shifted his weight onto the cane.
A few feet away, the tall glass doors of the adjoining conference room revealed executives already seated inside, waiting for him. Arthur stood among them near the door. Vincent remained closer to Dominic, scanning the hallway out of habit.
Clare and Ellie had been waiting quietly near the rehabilitation chair.
Ellie noticed the problem first.
The four-year-old crouched beside Dominic before anyone could stop her. Her blonde bob swung forward as she leaned toward the prosthetic leg with the intense curiosity she always showed around hinges, clasps, latches, and anything mechanical.
Vincent reacted instantly.
“HEY—DON’T TOUCH HIM.”
Clare rushed forward.
“ELLIE!”
Dominic raised one hand.
“Wait.”
Everyone stopped.
Ellie pointed.
“That part is open.”
Dominic looked down sharply.
The outer casing of his prosthetic had shifted slightly away from its normal position.
That should not have happened.
He carefully opened the loose section enough to see inside.
Then he froze.
There was a foreign object concealed inside.
Small.
Deliberately hidden.
Something that clearly did not belong anywhere near the prosthetic.
Vincent saw it too.
His entire posture changed.
The security chief immediately moved between Dominic and everyone else in the foyer without touching the device.
Dominic stared at it.
His voice dropped.
“SOMEONE PLANTED A BOMB ON MY LEG.”
Silence swallowed the hall.
Clare pulled Ellie backward against her.
Through the glass wall, several executives stood from their chairs.
Then the conference-room door opened.
Arthur stepped into the foyer.
His usual composed expression was gone.
“DOMINIC... DON’T DO ANYTHING RASH.”
Dominic slowly turned.
The words were wrong.
Too immediate.
Too informed.
Vincent noticed it too.
His eyes narrowed.
Dominic looked down at Ellie.
She stood pressed against Clare’s skirt, staring at the prosthetic rather than the frightened adults.
“DID YOU SEE ANYONE TOUCH MY LEG?”
Ellie hesitated.
Then raised one small finger.
She pointed directly at Arthur.
Arthur’s calm expression vanished.
Dominic stared at the man who had advised his family for more than thirty years.
May you like
Arthur went pale.
And nobody in the foyer moved.
