Chapter 6 - The Hidden Safehouse
Frank led them through a maze of damp utility corridors beneath the cliffside, eventually emerging not at the docks, but behind an abandoned water pumping station half a mile downriver.
A dented black SUV waited in the heavy rain, engine idling, its lights completely off. Frank shoved them into the back seat, jumped behind the wheel, and threw the vehicle into gear. Tires spun on wet gravel before catching asphalt, launching them into the stormy night.
Elena wept softly, nursing Leo beneath Julian’s oversized jacket. Julian stared out the tinted window at the distant estate on the hill. Plumes of black smoke and orange fire rose against the dark skyline. The Hawthorne legacy—generations of aristocratic power and greed—was going up in flames.
""Who were those men, Frank?"" Julian asked, his voice low and dangerous. ""They weren't just common guns for hire. They had military-grade gear and our private security codes.""
Frank adjusted the rearview mirror, glancing at Julian with grave eyes. ""Beatrice didn't act alone. She was deeply indebted to the Calderon Cartel. She laundered their money through the family foundation for years. When your father died, she lost control of the offshore accounts. The only way she could repay them was by liquidating your shares.""
""So they came to collect the collateral,"" Julian concluded bitterly.
""More than that,"" Frank replied, taking a sharp turn down a desolate rural highway. ""The Calderons don't leave witnesses. And their boss, Hector Calderon, has a personal vendetta against your father. He wants you and your son dead so the foundation defaults entirely to a shell corporation he controls.""
Frank’s dashboard screen suddenly flashed red, an alarm chiming sharply.
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""What is that?"" Elena gasped.
""GPS tracker,"" Frank said through gritted teeth, glancing out his side window. ""We've been tailed since we hit the main road.""
