Chapter 9 - The Desperate Escape
My father shoved me violently toward the back door of the study.
Run through the woods and do not look back! he shouted, picking the heavy rifle back up from the floor.
I sprinted down the dark hallway just as the heavy oak front door was kicked open.
Grant stormed into the house, followed closely by two massive, intimidating men in dark suits.
I heard my father rack a shell into the chamber of his rifle, trying to buy me precious seconds.
I didn't wait to hear the confrontation.
I burst through the back patio door and launched myself into the freezing, rain-soaked night.
I ran blindly through the dense woods behind the neighborhood, branches whipping fiercely against my face and arms.
I could hear the heavy, thudding footsteps of Grant's hired men crashing through the brush behind me.
I clutched the hard drive and the silver flash drive so tightly my fingernails bit into my palms.
I vaulted over a rusted chain-link fence, tearing a massive hole in my jeans, and tumbled into a dark alleyway.
I sprinted toward the main road, desperately flagging down a passing taxi cab.
I threw a crumpled twenty-dollar bill at the driver and screamed at him to drive as fast as humanly possible.
We sped away just as the two men emerged from the alley, cursing loudly as my taillights disappeared into the night.
I arrived back at Eleanor's secure office building completely covered in mud, blood, and sweat.
Eleanor unlocked the door and gasped at my horrific appearance, but I simply held up the digital drives in triumph.
We plugged both devices into her highly encrypted computer and bypassed the basic security passwords.
The screens illuminated with thousands of files, emails, and recorded audio logs.
It was the holy grail of irrefutable evidence.
Grant had documented every single illegal wire transfer, every forged signature, and every blackmail attempt.
The audio files contained Marcus Sterling explicitly ordering Grant to ruin my life so Vanessa could have my children.
Eleanor smiled a terrifyingly beautiful smile and immediately began forwarding the files to the FBI cybercrimes division.
We have him, Rebecca, she whispered triumphantly.
Suddenly, a deafening crash echoed from the front lobby of the office building.
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The heavy wooden door to Eleanor's private office splintered inward, violently kicked off its hinges.
Grant stepped into the room with a manic, psychotic grin, holding a heavy steel tire iron.
