Chapter 8 - The Double Cross
I pulled the cracked, smoking phone from my pocket and stared at the illuminated screen.
The text message was from Vivienne, and it contained a single, terrifying photograph.
It was a live image of Maria, my loyal housekeeper, tied to a wooden chair in a dark, unfamiliar basement.
"You saved the brat, but if you send the FBI after me, the mother dies horribly," the chilling text read.
I quickly hid the phone in my pocket before the federal agents could see the terrifying ransom demand.
I knew that if the FBI got involved, Vivienne would absolutely execute Maria without a single moment of hesitation.
"Mr. Adrian, you need immediate medical attention," a heavily armed agent stated, trying to pull me toward an ambulance.
"I am completely fine, just take care of my dog and the child," I ordered, pushing past the confused officers.
I grabbed Marcus by the shoulder and pulled him roughly into the shadows behind a destroyed baggage cart.
"Vivienne has Maria, and I need you to create a massive diversion so I can slip away from the feds unseen," I demanded.
Marcus didn't ask a single question; he simply nodded his bleeding head in complete understanding.
He suddenly screamed loudly, pretending to collapse onto the wet tarmac in a dramatic medical emergency.
Dozens of agents immediately rushed to the lawyer's side, completely ignoring my quiet departure.
I slipped seamlessly through the broken perimeter fence, disappearing rapidly into the dense, dark forest surrounding the airport.
I needed someone who specialized in tracking untraceable digital footprints to locate the basement in the photograph.
I walked three miles in the freezing rain until I reached a seedy, twenty-four-hour underground hacker cafe.
I approached a man named Jax, an old, dangerous contact from my ruthless corporate takeover days in Chicago.
"I need you to ping the exact GPS location of this text message, and I will pay you a million dollars right now," I offered frantically.
Jax smiled a greedy, yellow-toothed grin and immediately plugged my ruined phone into his massive server rig.
"The signal bounced through three different countries, but the final destination is an old, abandoned subway station right here in the city," Jax revealed.
I grabbed the printed address from his hand and turned fiercely toward the exit door.
"Not so fast, Adrian," Jax said coldly, pulling a massive, heavy revolver from beneath his desk.
May you like
He aimed the deadly weapon directly at my chest, cocking the hammer back with a loud, terrifying click.
"Vivienne just offered me ten million dollars in untraceable crypto to put a bullet straight through your heart."
