Chapter 5 - The Hostage
Kieran completely dropped his polished, charismatic businessman persona.
His eyes were completely devoid of any human empathy as he ordered his men to grab Sarah.
My sister screamed as a massive bodyguard violently restrained her arms behind her back.
I stepped forward, desperately begging Kieran to let her go because she knew absolutely nothing about the charity funds.
Kieran laughed bitterly, explaining that innocence had never stopped his family from destroying people before.
He held his hand out and demanded that I surrender the encrypted backup drive immediately.
My mind raced for any possible lie that could keep us alive for just a few more hours.
I confidently told him that I did not have the physical drive on my person.
I lied and claimed I had stored it securely inside a safety deposit box at the downtown branch of First National Bank.
I told him I was the only person whose biometric thumbprint could legally open that specific vault.
Kieran aggressively grabbed me by the throat, pressing his thumb painfully into my windpipe.
He told me I had exactly one hour to retrieve the drive and bring it back to him, or Sarah would die.
He shoved me into his secondary car and ordered his driver to take me directly to the bank.
I walked into the massive marble lobby of the bank, my knees shaking with every step.
I approached the senior vault manager, presenting my identification and requesting immediate access to my private box.
The manager looked at his computer screen and frowned in utter confusion.
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He looked up at me with a deeply apologetic expression.
He politely informed me that my husband had already presented the proper legal paperwork and emptied that exact box just ten minutes ago.
