Chapter 1
Dante did not ask Marcus another question.
He looked at Dr. Emma.
“Open it.”
Marcus tried to rise from beside the collapsed orthotic cart.
Two bodyguards stopped him.
“You don't know what you're doing.”
Dante ignored him.
Lily sat rigid on the examination bench, both hands gripping the rubber handles of her boot.
Dr. Emma crouched.
“Lily, I’m going to cut the outside. Nothing touches your skin.”
Lily nodded.
Leo stood nearby, breathing hard after the struggle with Grant.
The trauma shears moved carefully up the rubber.
The boot opened.
Nothing crawled out.
For one second, everyone seemed confused.
Then Emma separated the inner lining.
A small black object dropped onto the padded floor.
It vibrated twice.
Lily gasped.
“That!”
Emma picked it up with a gloved hand.
It was smaller than a matchbox.
A tracking device.
Part of the adhesive strip had loosened, allowing it to shift against Lily’s ankle every time she moved.
Dante stared at it.
“Is that why you were afraid of the boot being cut?”
Marcus said nothing.
Grant looked toward the door.
Leo noticed.
“So it was you.”
Grant’s face hardened.
Dante looked at his nephew.
“What do you know?”
Leo stepped forward.
“I saw him with Lily’s riding gear yesterday.”
Grant laughed.
“He’s lying.”
Leo ignored him.
“He told me he was checking the boots because one of the heels was loose.”
Dante looked at Grant.
Then Marcus.
The device vibrated again in Emma’s hand.
She turned it over.
A tiny inventory label was attached underneath.
Not a consumer product.
Professional security equipment.
Dante recognized the company name.
It belonged to the private security firm Grant worked for.
Marcus finally spoke.
“It was for Lily’s safety.”
Dante slowly looked toward him.
May you like
“Then why didn't I know it was there?”
Marcus had no answer.
