**3**
The ruin of the old Grayson Global building looked ominous and scary in front of the dim sky. Patrick had mixed feelings when he opened the broken door and entered the edifice. Everything was dusty and cold, it smelled of decay and a rat ran through the former entrance hall when the door closed behind Patrick. When Conrad had called him he had been surprised but apparently Conrad had found a way to make a phone call. That man would always find a way to get his will and now he had proven it again. But to hear his voice had made all the anger come up in Patrick again and he would have loved to yell at Conrad and accuse him of all the things he had done to Victoria. But then Conrad had told him about Victoria being in danger and even if Patrick wasn't sure if he could trust him, he couldn't risk letting his mom suffer. She had been through so much and if something happened to her it would be his own fault. He should have showed up earlier. So Patrick had taken the first flight to the Hamptons and now he stood in this old building, searching for his mother. According to Conrad she had been abducted a few days ago and provided that she was still alive, she had to be somewhere in here. "Mom!? Are you here?" No reply. "Victoria!?" Nothing. The silence was horrifying and Patrick imagined the worst. Pictures of his mother, covered with blood appeared in his head. He tried to push them away, but it was hard. Carefully, he climbed up the stairs to look for Victoria in the upper floors. After about ten minutes he reached the spot where the bomb had exploded two years ago. Everything was destroyed, the glass in the windows was broken, and parts of the walls were covered with moss. "Victoria! Where are you!?" Full of fear Patrick climbed over a pile of stones when he suddenly felt something pressed against his mouth. In the fraction of a second he knew that he had fallen into a terrible trap; then everything went black.
When Patrick woke up, he was tied to a pillar. He needed a while to remember what had happened. He had searched for his mother in the old building and then he had lost consciousness. First he thought that his attacker was Victoria's abductor who had heard Patrick when he had screamed his mother's name. But where was he? And where was Victoria? Nothing made sense. How had Conrad known about the abduction? Patrick shook his head. There was a mistake; someone had lured him into a trap. And he had an assumption who that person could be. He didn't really know why Conrad should do this, but he had told Patrick to come here in the first place and he was the only one who could have known where Patrick was. He had thought that Conrad had been in prison, but obviously he wasn't anymore and now he had used Victoria's supposedly abduction as a bait to get to Patrick.
Heavy steps which came up to him made him look up. There he was: Conrad Grayson the sentenced murderer of so many people stood right in front of him and looked down at Patrick. His gaze was cold and nasty. "I knew you would come, Patrick." "Where is Victoria!?" Patrick tried to get rid of his tie ups but they were too tight. Conrad smiled. "That is a really good question. I thought that maybe you could help me with it." Patrick breathed hardly, all the anger he felt for this man came up and he couldn't resist it. "If you hurt her in any way, I swear, you'll regret it! I will make you pay for the things you have done to my mother! How can you even stand here without feeling any guilt for all your sins!?" Conrad raised his hand to interrupt him but Patrick hadn't finished. "She went through so much, her life was harder than everything you've ever experienced but she always stood up and fought for a better one! How could you do all that to her, how can you even live with yourself?" He took a deep breath, "I will make you pay Conrad, and if it's the last thing I'll do!" Conrad didn't seem afraid or even surprised in any way. He just kept smiling. "It's really sweet how much you love you mother, Patrick. But you have to admit that your threats aren't very scary as long as you sit on the ground and can't move. So... I suggest you forget your payback plans and listen to me." Patrick swallowed. It was hard to push away all his fury but Conrad was right, he wasn't really intimidating while he was tied to a pillar. And if he wanted to get out of this situation he would have to listen to Conrad. "Okay. Why did you want me to come here?" Conrad started walking up and down in the room. "You're just a little puppet in a big project. After I broke out of the prison-" Patrick gasped, "You broke out!?" "Don't interrupt me, or I'll kill you right away! For my plan you don't have to be alive!" Patrick nodded a bit shyly and Conrad continued: "After I broke out of the prison you will understand that I can't walk around like nothing ever happened. First, I have to make them reopen my trial and exonerate me. And for that I need Victoria. She's the only one who will be able to bribe a judge since I can't show up anywhere. But after everything that's happened she doesn't seem very willing to help me-" "What a surprise!", Patrick said sarcastically. Conrad made a step forward and grabbed Patrick's throat. "Didn't I tell you not to interrupt me!? God, you're like your mother! Shut up now, I'm serious!" His hands slowly tightened around Patrick's neck. "I'm sorry", Patrick whispered. He wasn't someone who got afraid easily but he didn't want to risk anything. "Please continue." Conrad stepped back from Patrick and gave him a warning look. "I killed a lot of people; I will not hesitate to do the same with you if you can't watch your mouth! Well... back to me: I have to make Victoria help me and this is the part where you'll come up. If she hears that you're my prisoner, I'm sure she will do anything to help you. Just like you came to save her. And if she doesn't... well, then you will die with the thought that your mother didn't care enough about you to save your life. And believe me, I won't miss you. Doesn't that sound like a good plan?" Patrick swallowed. Conrad was capable of so much more than he had thought. But he could see a very serious flaw in that plan. "Victoria didn't respond to any of my calls, and neither to yours. We have no idea where she is; maybe she doesn't receive any messages? How will she be able to come if she doesn't know what happened to me?" But Patrick already knew the answer. "That's not my problem. Either she shows up in time... or she doesn't. You can just hope the best; your life is on her hands. And now excuse me, I have to make a phone call. But first..." Patrick felt a heavy pain when Conrad's fist hit his nose. Blood ran over his face and dropped on the floor. Conrad grinned grimly, while taking a picture of Patrick's face covered with blood. "Maybe this will make her hurry up." Then he left the room. Patrick felt worse than ever before. Conrad would threat Victoria and it was his own fault. He could be dead within hours if Conrad decided to get rid of him. He hated himself for being so naïve; he shouldn't have come here! While Patrick thought about how stupid he had been, he heard Conrad calling Victoria in another room. Or at least he tried to; he seemed to talk to a mailbox. "Do you recognize Patrick on the photo? Maybe you should help him, Victoria. I give you three days to come to the old Grayson Global building. Otherwise, your beloved son will die like so many others before him!"