Chapter 6 - The Master Manipulator
I stared at the glowing screen of the burner phone, my blood turning instantly to ice.
My innocent children were sitting quietly in the back of a moving van, completely unaware of the danger surrounding them.
Ashley, Jack's sister, was driving the vehicle, her face visible in the rearview mirror on the screen.
I looked up at Doctor Harrison, fighting the overwhelming urge to drive my knife directly into his throat.
"Where are my children?" I demanded, my voice dropping to a dangerous, lethal whisper.
Harrison smiled, clearly enjoying the absolute terror radiating from my face.
"They are currently taking a very scenic drive toward the southern border," Harrison explained calmly.
"Jack's original plan was to run away and play happy family with his new mistress."
Harrison walked over to the desk and leaned heavily against the polished wood.
"But the syndicate realized Jack is an absolute idiot who cannot even manage his own bank accounts."
"We decided your children are far more valuable to us as permanent leverage against you, Ms. Vance."
I took a slow, calculated breath, forcing my emotions into a dark, locked box inside my mind.
I could not afford to act like a panicked mother right now.
I had to become the cold, ruthless operative I used to be.
"You think you can control me by holding my children hostage?" I asked him plainly.
"We know exactly who you are, Megan," Harrison laughed, completely confident in his position.
"You are the best financial fixer the criminal underworld has ever seen."
"Our boss wants you to come out of retirement and work exclusively for our syndicate."
"If you refuse, Ashley drives that van straight into the ocean."
I stared at his arrogant face and realized he had made a fatal miscalculation.
He assumed I cared about the hospital data downloading on the computer behind me.
He assumed he was the smartest person in the room.
"You really should have checked your own bank accounts before you threatened my family, Doctor Harrison," I said smoothly.
Harrison frowned, his confident smile wavering for a fraction of a second.
"What are you talking about?" he demanded sharply.
I tapped the keyboard of the computer, displaying the offshore account routing numbers I had just accessed.
"While you were busy monologuing about your grand plan, I wasn't just downloading Jack's patient files," I explained.
"I used Jack's dark web credentials to access the hospital's primary hidden slush fund."
I pointed to the massive number displayed brightly on the glowing screen.
"I just wired fifty million dollars of the syndicate's money directly into an untraceable account that only I control."
Harrison turned completely pale, his eyes widening in sheer panic.
"You are lying," he stammered, raising the gun to point it back at my chest.
"Call your boss and check the balance," I challenged him, stepping directly toward the barrel of his gun.
"If he finds out you let me steal fifty million dollars right under your nose, who do you think he is going to kill first?"
Harrison's hands began to shake violently as the reality of his failure crashed down upon him.
He reached frantically for his own cell phone with his free hand.
I did not wait for him to dial the number.
I surged forward instantly, knocking the heavy pistol upward and away from my body.
I drove my knee violently into his stomach, sending him collapsing onto the floor, gasping desperately for air.
I picked up the dropped pistol and pressed the cold metal barrel directly against his forehead.
"Call Ashley right now and tell her to turn the van around," I ordered him coldly.
Harrison coughed up blood and shook his head weakly.
"I cannot call her," he wheezed in absolute terror.
"Ashley does not work for the syndicate at all."
"She is working directly for your husband."
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Harrison pointed a shaking finger at the live video feed still playing on the desk.
"Jack is sitting in the passenger seat of that van, and he is holding a gun to his own sister's head."
