Chapter 3 - The Shadow Alliance
I had less than a second to choose between a guaranteed bullet in the alley or a potential kidnapping in the vehicle.
I threw myself into the back seat of the SUV just as the woman hit the gas pedal, tearing out of the narrow alleyway.
The tires squealed against the wet asphalt as we sped past the front of the bank, completely out of Julian's line of sight.
I pressed my back against the leather seat, clutching the binder like a shield while trying to catch my breath.
The woman in the passenger seat calmly placed her rifle on the floorboards and took off her dark sunglasses.
I recognized her instantly from the society magazines, though I had never met her in person.
It was Chloe, the ruthless corporate auditor who had supposedly been reviewing Julian's company finances for the past six months.
"You're the woman from the phone," I whispered, the sickening realization washing over me.
Chloe did not laugh or taunt me the way she had when Eleanor was dying in the hospital.
Instead, she let out a heavy sigh and turned around to look at me with an expression of pure exhaustion.
"The Maui audio was pre-recorded, Sarah, and I only said those horrible things because Julian was holding a gun to my head."
She explained that Julian had discovered she was secretly building a federal case against his money laundering operations.
He had forced her to participate in the fake phone call to establish an alibi while he stayed in Boston to orchestrate his mother's murder.
"He switched Eleanor's heart medication, Sarah, and he planned to kill you the moment you went home to mourn."
My stomach violently turned as the true depths of my husband's sociopathic behavior finally became clear to me.
He had murdered the woman who gave him life just to prevent her from handing over the evidence I now held in my lap.
"Why are you helping me?" I asked, my voice trembling as the adrenaline slowly began to wear off.
The driver of the SUV, a massive man with scars across his neck, answered before Chloe could open her mouth.
"Because you are not the only person in this city who wants to see Julian burn to the ground."
The driver pulled into a dark, abandoned warehouse district and parked the vehicle inside an empty shipping container.
Chloe reached into her jacket and pulled out a specialized encrypted laptop, setting it on the center console.
"We need the account numbers from Eleanor's binder to freeze his assets before he realizes you escaped the vault."
I handed her the heavy leather book, watching as her fingers flew across the keyboard with incredible speed.
Suddenly, the screen flashed bright red, and a loud warning siren echoed through the interior of the SUV.
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Chloe stared at the monitor in absolute horror, her face draining of all color.
"He didn't just empty the accounts, Sarah... he put a two-million-dollar bounty on your head, and it just went live to every mercenary in the city."
