Chapter 3 - The Midnight Escape
The old man who called himself Arthur Vance smiled a terrifyingly cold smile.
His kind grandfatherly demeanor had completely vanished into thin air.
He stepped slowly toward me while twirling the heavy hunting knife in his hand.
He stated that Julian made a huge mistake by trusting a naive volunteer with the bag.
I backed away slowly until my spine hit the locked wooden front door.
My eyes darted toward the green backpack sitting on the floor between us.
Arthur lunged forward and swung the sharp blade directly at my chest.
I dodged to the left and his knife embedded deeply into the wooden doorframe.
I grabbed the heavy backpack by the straps and swung it with all my might.
The bag full of money and metal slammed forcefully into the side of his head.
Arthur grunted in severe pain and collapsed onto the hardwood floor.
I scrambled to unlock the deadbolt and sprinted out into the dark hallway.
I ran down the street ignoring the freezing rain soaking through my yellow sweater.
The storm provided perfect cover as I vanished into the dark alleys.
I ducked into the nearest subway station and jumped over the metal turnstile.
The underground platform was completely empty at this incredibly late hour.
I huddled on a wooden bench and pulled the leather ledger from the bag.
Water dripped from my hair as I carefully opened the fragile ancient book.
I found pages filled with bank account numbers and massive offshore wire transfers.
Next to a massive transaction was the name of the current city police commissioner.
Julian had been secretly tracking a massive syndicate of incredibly corrupt officials.
The ledger proved that my mother was his primary informant before her fatal accident.
A sudden terrifying realization hit me that her car crash was absolutely not an accident.
She had been murdered to keep these dirty financial secrets hidden forever.
The rumble of an approaching train broke my terrifying train of thought.
The bright headlights of the subway car illuminated the damp concrete tunnel.
Before the train arrived a uniformed police officer walked slowly down the stairs.
I felt a wave of relief until I noticed the distinct jagged scar on his cheek.
It was the exact same officer who had investigated my mother's deadly crash.
He unclipped his radio and stared directly at me with a sinister grin.
May you like
He did not say a single word as he walked purposefully toward my bench.
The corrupt cop drew his service weapon and pointed it squarely at my head.
