My eight-year-old sister and I went to a billionaire’s mansion and offered to clean his neglected garden for leftover food because our older sister was sick and we hadn’t had a proper meal in days. But after we uncovered his late wife’s missing diamond ring and gave it back instead of selling it, the billionaire made a phone call that sent a chill through me: he gave someone our exact home address, even though neither of us had ever told him where we lived.

I threw myself in front of Annie, shielding her small body with my own.

I begged Marcus to stop, screaming that I would give him whatever he wanted if he just left her alone.

Marcus paused, the cruel blade hovering just inches from my face.

He explained that Grace had accidentally found a digital ledger detailing the city's largest illegal weapons smuggling ring.

The people she had been cleaning for were not just wealthy executives, but dangerous cartel bosses.

My mind raced as the pieces of the terrifying puzzle finally snapped together.

Grace wasn't suffering from severe exhaustion or a random flu bug.

She had been deliberately and slowly poisoned by her employers to silence her without raising police suspicion.

I knew our apartment possessed zero hiding spots, but I needed to buy us time to escape.

I lied through my teeth, telling Marcus that Grace had buried the drive under a loose brick in the alleyway downstairs.

Marcus grabbed me roughly by the collar of my worn shirt and dragged me toward the door.

He kept his gun trained on Annie, forcing her to follow us down the dark, flickering stairwell.

We stepped out into the damp, garbage-filled alley behind the apartment building.

I frantically scanned the street for any police officers or someone who could help us.

The alley was completely abandoned, filled only with the shadows of the falling night.

Marcus shoved me into the brick wall and ordered me to start digging in the mud.

I dropped to my knees, pretending to search the ground while desperately looking for a weapon.

My fingers brushed against a heavy, rusted iron pipe buried in the trash.

I gripped the cold metal, preparing to swing it at his kneecaps with everything I had.

Before I could move, a massive black SUV crashed through the chain-link fence at the end of the alley.

The vehicle slammed directly into Marcus's parked car, pinning it against the brick wall with a deafening crunch.

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My father bet twenty dollars that I would walk through his front door al...

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Four heavily armed men wearing tactical gear poured out of the SUV and aimed assault rifles directly at us.

Arthur Whitmore stepped out of the back seat, holding his silver cane and smiling terribly as his men grabbed me and Annie.

Chapter 4 - The Stolen Ledger