Chapter 9 - The Reunion
The basement level of the Alpine Sanatorium smelled of antiseptic, damp stone, and old paper.
Vance led the way down the dimly lit concrete corridor, his tactical flashlight cutting through the shadows. Nolan walked directly behind him, while I kept my hand resting firmly on the sidearm secured in the holster beneath my overcoat, ready for any last-minute treachery.
We stopped in front of a heavy steel-reinforced door marked with a digital keypad and biometric scanner.
I pulled the master keycard Moreau had given us from my pocket, swiped it through the magnetic reader, and pressed my thumb against the biometric pad.
BEEP.
A green light flashed, and the heavy steel door clicked open with a pneumatic hiss.
I pushed the door open and stepped into the stark, sterile room.
Sitting in a comfortable armchair near a barred window looking out over the snowy peaks was an elderly woman wrapped in a thick wool blanket. Her silver hair was neatly brushed, and though her face bore the delicate lines of age and prolonged confinement, her eyes were bright, sharp, and unmistakably fierce.
Aunt Beatrice.
When she looked up and saw me standing in the doorway, her breath caught.
“Elena?” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. “Is that... is that really you, or is my mind playing tricks on me again?”
I rushed across the room, dropping to my knees beside her chair, wrapping my arms around her frail shoulders. Hot tears—the first real tears I had shed since the airport—finally spilled over.
“It’s me, Aunt Beatrice,” I choked out, burying my face against her shoulder. “I’m here. We’re taking you home.”
Beatrice raised her trembling hands, gently cupping my face, her thumb brushing away a tear. “Look at you... you look so much like your mother. I knew you would come. I told Moreau you had the Vance blood in you, that you wouldn't let them steal what belongs to us.”
Nolan stepped into the room, leaning against the doorframe with a rare, gentle smile on his face. “We didn't just come to rescue you, Auntie. We brought the paperwork.”
Beatrice looked over at Nolan, a triumphant, wicked grin spreading across her weathered face. “Did you break his financial spine, Nolan?”
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“Into pieces,” Nolan nodded.
Beatrice let out a raspy, delighted laugh that echoed off the cold stone walls. “Good. Because it’s time the syndicate learned what happens when you wake a sleeping dragon.”
