Chapter 1: The Words a Four-Year-Old Shouldn't Know
"Grandpa is luring Dad out of the meeting room."
Lucien went completely still.
Mason stepped between them and grabbed Lucien's jacket.
"Forget what she said."
Then Mason swung.
Lucien slipped the punch and drove one explosive counterpunch across his face.
Mason spun backward into the rolling stage-riser dolly.
Platform sections slid apart, scenery cubes scattered, and the cable trunk burst open as he crashed through the collapsing lower frame.
Rebecca lunged toward Ava.
Lucien tore her hand away and delivered one thunderous open-handed sl*p.
Rebecca spun through the freestanding poster frame.
Programs scattered across the carpet as she collapsed beside the audience bench.
Then Lucien slowly turned toward Charles.
"You hurt her to draw me out?...
Who did you send in after I left?"
Charles instinctively glanced toward the closed council doors.
Lucien followed his gaze.
But one detail disturbed him even more.
Ava had not said, "Grandpa wanted you."
She had said **luring Dad out of the meeting room**.
Those were very precise words for a frightened four-year-old.
Which meant Ava had probably heard an adult say exactly what they were doing.
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What did Charles send someone in to do — and is Lucien already too late?
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