Chapter 3 - The Hostage
Guests screamed and scrambled under the heavy banquet tables.
My grandmother froze in her chair as Derek pointed the gun at the ceiling.
He demanded that everyone stay exactly where they were.
Briana sobbed loudly and begged her husband to put the weapon down.
Derek ignored her and aimed the barrel directly at my chest.
He told me I had ruined his only chance to escape the criminal syndicate he owed money to.
The commercial debt was a front for a massive underground loan shark operation.
Marcus had used the construction company to wash dirty money for years.
I realized my father was not just a coward trying to save his mansion.
He was a money launderer who had lost millions of syndicate funds.
I kept my voice calm and told Derek that killing me would not erase the debt.
Derek laughed and said he did not plan to kill me.
He planned to force me to sign the final property transfer papers right now.
He pulled a folded contract from his back pocket and threw it onto the table.
He ordered my father to find a pen.
Marcus rushed to the reception desk and returned with a gold fountain pen.
My own father handed me the pen and begged me to sign away my home to save his life.
I picked up the gold pen and looked at the signature line.
May you like
Then the main doors of the ballroom slammed open.
A team of federal agents in tactical gear flooded into the room.
