Chapter 9 - The Ultimatum
I let the burner phone ring five times before I finally gathered the courage to pick it up.
I pressed the green answer button and held the cheap plastic device slowly to my ear.
I did not say a single word, waiting for the person on the other end to reveal their intentions.
A deep, metallic, and heavily distorted voice echoed through the tiny speaker.
The voice addressed me by my full legal name, a name I had not used since before my marriage to David.
The caller calmly explained that David Vance owed their syndicate a very large sum of money.
They knew David was currently sitting in a federal prison cell, making him completely useless to them.
The voice stated that a debt does not simply disappear just because the debtor is incarcerated.
They demanded that I empty Lily's million-dollar trust fund and transfer the money to an offshore account within forty-eight hours.
I found my voice and angrily told the caller that I was not responsible for my ex-husband's criminal debts.
I threatened to take this phone straight to the FBI and have them trace the signal.
The distorted voice laughed, a cold and terrifying sound that made my blood run completely cold.
The caller told me to look out my kitchen window toward the old oak tree in my backyard.
I slowly walked to the window and pushed the curtain aside with a trembling hand.
Hanging from the lowest branch of the tree, swaying gently in the evening breeze, was Lily's new stuffed fox.
I gasped, dropping the curtain and spinning around to look toward the living room.
Lily was still sitting safely on the couch, completely absorbed in her cartoon, completely unaware of the danger outside.
The voice on the phone whispered that they could have easily taken the child instead of the toy.
They warned me that if the money was not wired in two days, they would return to take what they were owed.
The line clicked and went completely dead, leaving me standing in the kitchen in terrifying silence.
I realized with absolute certainty that the police could not protect us from a faceless international crime syndicate.
If I gave them the money, they would know I was weak, and they would likely come back for more.
If I refused, they would eventually bypass my security cameras and take my daughter.
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I looked at the burner phone in my hand and realized I only had one real option left.
I had to completely disappear.
