Chapter 2 - The Ghost on the Frequency
Five miles away, hidden in the shadows of a nondescript surveillance van parked overlooking the city skyline, Elias Vance ripped his headphones off his ears.
Elias wasn't just a security consultant. He was a former black-ops specialist I had hired three months ago when I first noticed the discrepancies in my father's autopsy reports and the missing funds in my accounts. I knew Julian was dangerous, but I needed absolute proof. I had to play the victim to get the confession.
But I had never anticipated the sheer, brutal physical violence Julian would unleash tonight.
"Boss," muttered Jax, Elias's second-in-command, staring at the audio waveforms spiking on the monitors. "He just admitted to a class-A felony homicide. We have the confession. We have everything."
"He also just admitted he’s going to kill her tonight," Elias snarled, his jaw clenched so tight it looked like it might shatter. He racked the slide of his tactical rifle, the metallic clack echoing in the cramped van. "Protocol Omega is a go. We don't wait for the police. The Hawthorne payroll owns the local precinct. We go in now."
"The Hawthorne estate is a fortress, Elias. Reinforced steel gates, biometric locks, an independent power grid."
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"I don't care if it's Fort Knox," Elias said, his eyes burning with a lethal intensity as he strapped on his tactical vest. "Julian Hawthorne just signed his own death warrant. Bring down their grid."
Back in the estate, I closed my eyes, focusing on the slow, rhythmic pulsing of the pendant against my skin. Hurry, Elias, I prayed silently. Hurry.
