Chapter 6 - An Unexpected Emissary
It was not Leander who stepped out of the black four-wheel-drive vehicle that had stalled in the snowdrift fifty yards from the cabin. It was Keller, alone, his overcoat dusted with white, his hands raised in an unequivocal gesture of surrender.
Mara stood on the porch, the iron poker hidden behind the folds of her coat. “Take another step, Keller, and I ensure the federal prosecutors receive the encryption keys to Leander’s private Swiss vaults.”
Keller stopped, his breath plume-like in the freezing air. His face looked gray, lined with exhaustion that went far beyond lack of sleep.
“I didn’t come to take the boy, Mara,” Keller said, his voice carrying over the wind. “I came to warn you. Leander has bypassed me. He hired private contractors from across the border—men who don't care about legalities or innocent bystanders. They aren't coming to negotiate. They’re coming to clean the board.”
Elena appeared at the doorway, leaning heavily against the frame, her hand resting over her belly. “Keller... you served his father. You watched Leander grow up.”
“Which is why I know what he has become, Miss Elena,” Keller replied sorrowfully. “He believes the leaks are coming from you. He thinks you betrayed him because he wouldn't marry you. In his mind, you are not a woman carrying his child; you are a liability.”
May you like
Mara stepped down from the porch, her boots crunching in the snow. “Why betray him now, Keller? After thirty years of doing his dirty work?”
Keller looked down at his leather gloves. “Because I held that little boy when he was born. And when I saw the orders Leander signed this morning... I realized there would be nothing left of my own soul if I let those men reach this valley.”
