Chapter 6 - The Ghost's Ransom
"Don't do anything stupid, Martin," Evelyn's voice crackled through the cheap speaker.
Martin held the flashbang grenade tightly, his knuckles turning white.
He looked at Daniel, signaling silently toward the narrow gap at the bottom of the steel door.
"You abandoned your own daughter to fake your death for a cartel payout?" Martin yelled, stalling for time.
"I did what I had to do to survive," Evelyn replied, her voice completely devoid of empathy.
"Now slide the bags under the door, or I press the button and you both suffocate in the dark."
Daniel grabbed the first duffel bag and quietly unzipped the side pocket.
He pulled a small brick of C4 plastic explosive from his tactical vest and slipped it inside the bag among the cash.
He pressed a tiny wireless detonator into the center of the explosive clay.
Martin watched, his eyes widening as he realized Daniel's desperate plan.
"The money is coming under the door, Evelyn!" Martin shouted to cover the sound of the zipper.
Daniel forcefully kicked the heavy canvas bag toward the bottom of the metal door.
He pushed it violently until it squeezed through the narrow gap and disappeared onto the pavement outside.
They waited in breathless silence.
"Good boy, Martin," Evelyn mocked through the speaker.
"Tell Sarah I said hello."
A moment later, the loud hum of a luxury car engine started up right outside the unit.
Evelyn was driving away, leaving them locked in the airtight concrete vault.
"Get behind the boxes and cover your ears!" Daniel ordered.
Martin dove behind the tallest stack of cardboard boxes, pressing his hands hard against his head.
Daniel pulled a small remote from his pocket and pressed the red button.
The explosion shook the very foundation of the building.
The heavy steel roll-up door was blown completely off its tracks, flying out into the parking lot with a deafening crash.
A massive cloud of concrete dust and burning paper filled the air.
Martin coughed violently as Daniel pulled him up by his collar.
They stumbled out into the cool night air, ears ringing from the blast.
Scraps of flaming hundred-dollar bills drifted down around them like twisted snow.
"Where is she?" Martin gasped, searching the empty parking lot.
Sarah threw open the door of the armored sedan and ran toward them in a panic.
"A black Mercedes sped out of the gate just before the explosion!" Sarah yelled.
Daniel checked a tracking app on his phone, a grim smile crossing his face.
"She took the bait," Daniel said, showing them a blinking red dot moving rapidly across the digital map.
"The tracker I put in the bag survived the blast."
They piled quickly into the sedan, leaving the burning storage unit behind.
Daniel drove aggressively, tracking the red dot as it moved toward the wealthy downtown district.
"Why would she work with Vanguard?" Sarah asked, tears of betrayal in her eyes.
"She isn't just working with them," Martin realized, staring out the window.
"She is the one who told them about the hidden money."
Daniel slammed on the brakes as they arrived in front of a towering luxury high-rise.
The red dot on the phone had stopped at the very top floor.
It was the private penthouse suite owned by Elias Thorne, the CEO of Vanguard Corporation.
They rode the service elevator up in tense silence, weapons drawn and ready.
When the elevator doors dinged open, they stepped into a stunning hallway lined with marble.
Daniel kicked open the double doors to the penthouse, sweeping his pistol across the room.
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But what they saw inside made them stop dead in their tracks.
Evelyn was tied securely to a dining chair, a gag stuffed in her mouth, and a laser sight pointed directly at her forehead.
