Chapter 12 - The Ultimatum Over the Radio
The dashboard radio continued to crackle with Miller’s flat, menacing voice. "You can't outrun the grid, Vance. Every highway camera from here to the state line is locked onto your plates."
Daniel reached for the dashboard mic, his fingers trembling, but Claire smacked his hand away before he could touch it.
"Don't talk to him," Claire ordered, her voice ice-cold. She looked down at the tiny black flash drive resting in her palm. "If Miller wanted us dead, that gunman would have shot us at the warehouse. But he didn't. He wants this drive back because it's the only thing linking him to the stolen syndicate millions."
Elena raised her head, her eyes narrowing with sudden clarity. "She's right. Miller used Daniel as a scapegoat. If the FBI catches Daniel with this drive, he goes to prison for life while Miller walks away clean with the money."
"So what do we do?" Daniel asked, looking between his two wives with absolute helplessness. "We have nowhere to run. The van is bugged, the highways are blocked, and Miller’s people are closing in."
Claire looked around the cramped interior of the van. Through the front windshield, she could see the glowing highway signs indicating an approaching toll plaza two miles ahead—a toll plaza backed up by stationary traffic due to a severe weather accident.
"We don't run anymore," Claire said quietly, a dangerous resolve hardening in her eyes. "We turn the tables."
She looked at Elena, extending her hand. "Elena. Do you trust me?"
Elena stared at Claire for a long, tense moment. Ten minutes ago, they were bitter rivals fighting over a lying, cheating husband. Now, bound by shared survival and mutual betrayal, an unbreakable alliance had forged between them. Elena reached out and placed her hand firmly over Claire's.
"Let's take him down," Elena whispered.
Claire turned to Daniel. "Call Miller back on the dashboard comms. Tell him you’ll surrender the flash drive, but only on one condition: face-to-face, at the toll plaza, in front of interstate highway patrol troopers."
Daniel swallowed hard, hesitation flickering across his face. "If Miller has local law enforcement in his pocket, highway patrol won't save us."
"That's why we aren't waiting for highway patrol," Claire replied, slipping the flash drive securely into the zippered pocket of her white handbag. "We're going to broadcast the master ledger live to every federal news station in the country the second Miller steps out of his car."
Daniel stared at her in stunned disbelief, realizing the brilliant, terrifying depth of her plan. With shaking fingers, he keyed the dashboard radio mic.
"Miller," Daniel spoke clearly. "I have the drive. Toll plaza, exit forty-two. In five minutes. Just you and me."
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A heavy silence hung over the radio before Miller’s cold laugh came through the speakers. "Done, Vance. See you at the toll booth."
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