Chapter 2 - The Escape Route
I backed away from the glass door as a massive security guard pounded on the frame.
"Open this door immediately!" the angry man shouted from the lobby.
I recognized the man as my father's personal corporate fixer.
David did not open the door.
Instead, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the back of his spacious office.
"Why are you helping me?" I asked as my heart pounded fiercely against my ribs.
David pressed his hand against a hidden wooden panel on the wall.
"Your grandmother secretly paid for my wife's cancer treatments ten years ago," he explained quickly.
"She told me that one day, her favorite granddaughter would walk into this bank and need my help."
The hidden panel clicked open to reveal a narrow maintenance corridor.
The fixer outside violently smashed a chair against the glass door, causing spiderweb cracks to form.
"I just transferred the five million dollars into a secure ghost account under your maiden name," David said.
He handed me a sleek black debit card and a small electronic key fob.
"You have the money, but your father will hunt you to the ends of the earth to get it back."
I slipped the card into my coat pocket and stepped into the dark corridor.
"Go down these stairs and take the alley exit to your car," David instructed.
The glass door behind us finally shattered into a thousand pieces with a deafening crash.
I sprinted down the narrow concrete steps as fast as my legs could possibly carry me.
The cold winter air hit my face as I burst out into the back alley.
I reached my rusty sedan and locked the doors just as my phone began to ring.
The caller ID displayed my older brother's name.
I hesitated for a second before pressing the green answer button.
"Marcus, what is going on?" I asked breathlessly.
Marcus did not sound like he was laughing anymore.
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"Claire, you need to come to the family estate right now," Marcus whispered in a terrified voice.
"Dad is having Grandma permanently committed to a psychiatric ward, and he says you are next."
