Chapter 1 - The Forgotten Camera
I did not say a single word to Pauline Vance.
I ended the call and placed my phone on the cold hospital tile.
Rage is a dangerous luxury for a man with tactical military training.
I needed absolute, cold precision to completely dismantle their untouchable empire.
I kissed Maya on the forehead and promised her I would be back very soon.
I walked out of the hospital and drove straight to the San Jeronimo police department.
Chief Hector Miller was sitting behind his expensive mahogany desk when I kicked his office door open.
He did not even flinch as his deputies immediately reached for their sidearms.
He casually waved them off and offered me a deeply condescending smile.
He told me that my daughter had unfortunately fallen from a tall oak tree on the estate.
He claimed there were three sworn employee witnesses who saw the entire tragic accident.
I leaned over his desk and promised him that his corrupt badge would not protect him from me.
He laughed out loud and told me to get out of his town before I had a fatal accident myself.
I left the station knowing definitively that the local law was completely useless here.
I drove to the edge of the Vance estate and parked my truck deep in the dense pine woods.
Maya had mentioned that Ross took her to the old carriage garage before he grabbed the tire iron.
The Vances believed they were completely above the law, which meant they were incredibly arrogant.
Arrogant people always leave a trail because they never expect to be hunted by a predator.
I slipped past the private security patrols using the stealth evasion skills the military taught me.
The moonlight provided just enough illumination to guide me across the massive manicured lawns.
I reached the old garage and found the heavy wooden doors slightly ajar.
The concrete floor was freshly bleached, desperately attempting to mask the metallic scent of my daughter's blood.
They thought they had sanitized the crime scene perfectly.
But they had forgotten about the vintage motion-sensor security camera mounted high above the wooden rafters.
Arthur Vance had installed it years ago to watch his classic car collection and never upgraded the system.
I climbed the wooden beams silently and carefully pried the dusty plastic camera casing open.
The digital memory card was still securely slotted inside the old recording device.
I pulled the tiny piece of plastic free and slipped it safely into the pocket of my tactical vest.
This was the only piece of evidence I needed to destroy them all.
Suddenly, the heavy garage doors slammed completely shut, plunging the large room into total darkness.
A bright tactical flashlight clicked on, blinding my night vision instantly.
Ross Vance racked the slide of a heavy pump-action shotgun and smiled wickedly.
May you like
He told me he had been waiting in the dark for me to show up.
He pulled the trigger without any hesitation.
