Chapter 5 - The Safehouse Run
A matte-gray pickup truck skidded to a halt at the edge of the service road. The passenger door swung open immediately.
“Get in, Marcus! Move!” shouted Frank, Marcus’s longtime confidant and former squad engineer.
Marcus climbed into the cabin, pulling the door shut as Frank hit the accelerator, spraying gravel into the dark. Marcus settled Lily safely onto the back bench, wrapping his warm jacket around her shivering frame.
“Daddy’s here, sweetie. You’re safe now,” he whispered, gently stroking her damp hair until her small breaths steadied into exhausted sleep.
Frank glanced at the rearview mirror, his weather-beaten face set in grim lines. “Whole place is crawling with private security, Marcus. What the hell did you find in that ballroom?”
Marcus opened the yellow envelope under the interior dome light. The documents were watermarked with the official seal of an offshore forensic banking firm, dated two days before Sophia’s fatal crash.
“Victoria didn’t just siphon millions from the Sterling trust,” Marcus said, turning the crisp pages. “She discovered Sophia was planning to turn over evidence of illegal pharmaceutical trials to federal prosecutors. And this second document...”
Marcus’s voice trailed off. His jaw tightened until the muscle twitched visibly.
“What is it?” Frank asked.
“The mechanic’s private invoice,” Marcus said, staring at the faded ink. “Payment directly from Victoria’s secret shell account to sabotage the brake calipers on Sophia’s vehicle.”
Frank let out a low curse, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “She murdered her own sister.”
“And she made it look like driver negligence,” Marcus said grimly. “She hid this behind the ballroom pedestal because the original attorney gave her twenty-four hours to produce the authentic title deeds before resigning.”
May you like
Suddenly, the dashboard radio emitted a piercing tone. The truck’s navigation screen blinked rapidly, resetting itself to an unknown coordinate.
“We’ve got a problem,” Frank warned, staring at the console. “Our signal is being spoofed. Someone just uploaded our coordinates directly to the city grid.”
