Chapter 3 - The Chicago Connection
I stood up slowly, putting my body completely between the armed man and Sarah.
My mind raced, trying to calculate if I could disarm him before he pulled the trigger.
"You are making a terrible mistake," I lied, keeping my voice dangerously calm.
"I already gave the envelope to the police detectives waiting down the hall."
The man in the suit narrowed his cold, dead eyes, trying to call my bluff.
He took a step closer, the barrel of the silenced pistol aiming right at my chest.
"I know you just opened it, Charles," the hitman said smoothly.
Hearing my own name from a stranger's mouth sent a chill down my spine.
Before he could shoot, the loud voices of two security guards echoed from the hallway right outside the door.
Someone turned the doorknob, found it locked, and began banging heavily on the wood.
The hitman cursed under his breath, realizing he had run out of time.
He quickly slipped the gun back into his jacket and opened the window that led to the fire escape.
"This isn't over," he whispered before disappearing into the humid Miami night.
I ran to the door and unlocked it, letting the confused security guards inside.
I claimed the door had simply jammed, not wanting to involve the hospital staff in a deadly conspiracy.
Once I was alone again, I pulled out my laptop and plugged in the bloody USB drive.
It required a password, but I instinctively typed in our old wedding anniversary date.
The screen unlocked, revealing hundreds of financial documents and banking ledgers.
I clicked on the first file and felt my entire world shatter into pieces.
The documents proved that my construction company in Chicago was laundering millions of dollars for a Mexican cartel.
And the signature authorizing every single illegal transaction belonged to my business partner, Marcus.
Suddenly, Sarah's heart monitor began to beep frantically.
She gasped for air, her eyes flying open in absolute terror as she grabbed my shirt collar.
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"Charles, they took him," she sobbed hysterically.
"They took our son."
