Chapter 7: The Safe House Trail
The neon diner sign buzzed softly as Agent Miller slid a manila folder across the sticky table toward Elena. She opened it to reveal grainy surveillance photographs taken from a highway toll camera outside the city limits. The photos showed the same black sedan entering the gated perimeter of an industrial estate known as Oak Ridge Park, an abandoned manufacturing complex owned by Vance Corporation.
"This is where they're holding the physical ledger books," Miller explained, tapping a finger against one of the glossy prints. "Digital files can be hacked or deleted remotely, but Vance insisted on keeping physical paper trails for certain offshore accounts. Your brother knew that. That's why they abducted him—to force him to decode the primary ledger."
Elena looked up, her heart pounding. "Then David is still alive?"
"As of forty-eight hours ago, our thermal imaging of the Oak Ridge administrative building showed at least two heat signatures moving on the second floor," Miller said carefully, not wanting to offer false certainty. "Clara’s presence there this morning confirms they are packing up the final archives."
"We need to go there now," Elena said, closing the folder with a sharp snap.
"Not we, Ms. Mercer. Me and a tactical team," Miller corrected her firmly. "It’s federal jurisdiction, and it’s dangerous. You are a civilian with a young boy depending on you back home."
"My brother is in that building!" Elena hissed, leaning across the table, her voice trembling with restrained anger. "I’ve raised his son for six months while everyone told me he was a criminal. I am not sitting at home while you wait for paperwork to clear."
Miller stared at her for a long, silent moment, reading the fierce determination etched into her features. He recognized the stubborn Mercer family trait; David had possessed the exact same unwavering look when he walked into the corporate boardroom to expose the fraud.
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"All right," Miller relented quietly. "You stay in my vehicle, two hundred yards back from the perimeter gate. If things go sideways, you call for backup. Understood?"
Elena nodded once. It wasn't the permission to storm the building she wanted, but it was enough to get her into the field.
