Chapter 6 - The Return
I dropped the photograph onto the cold tile floor and backed away from the empty metal box.
Evan was not in Paris, and he was not running from an audit.
He was right here in Chicago, watching my every move with terrifying precision.
I ran out of the bank vault and burst into the main lobby, scanning the crowd for his familiar face.
A sleek black SUV was idling illegally right outside the bank's main glass doors.
The back window rolled down, revealing Diane Mercer sitting elegantly in the leather seat.
She gestured for me to come outside, her face a mask of terrifying, aristocratic calm.
I cautiously approached the vehicle, keeping a safe distance from the heavy doors.
Diane told me that Evan was simply protecting the family's legacy and that I was forcing their hand.
She offered me a horrific ultimatum right there on the sidewalk.
I could sign a full confession taking the fall for the money laundering, and they would let me keep a million dollars.
If I refused, she promised that the people Evan owed money to would make sure I never saw another sunrise.
I stared at the woman who had demanded I take her winter coats to the dry cleaner just yesterday.
I realized that the entire Mercer family was deeply entrenched in this criminal enterprise.
I smiled at her, a cold and hollow expression that finally matched her own cruelty.
I told her I would rather burn the money in front of her face than sign anything she gave me.
May you like
Diane rolled up her window slowly, whispering a final, chilling warning.
As her car drove away, I received a notification that the 6.8 million dollars in my escrow account had just been frozen by a federal judge.
