Chapter 7 - The Interrogation
Vance froze, the high-intensity flashlight slipping from his grip and shattering against the stone pathway below. For a long moment, the only sound was the steady drip of rain from the pine needles and the distant, muffled wind sweeping down the mountain ridge.
"You always were too fast for your own good, Leo," Vance said, his voice entirely devoid of panic. He didn't drop his weapon, but he didn't raise it either. "You think killing me solves this? You think the people signing my paychecks are going to pack up and go home when they hear I missed my check-in?"
"I don't intend to kill you, Vance," Leo replied, pressing the barrel slightly deeper. "I intend to use you to set a trap."
From the doorway of the cabin, Elena stepped out into the dim amber light, holding little Toby, who had finally woken up, rubbing his sleepy eyes against her shoulder. Clara stepped out right behind her, her expression unreadable as she watched Leo hold the federal marshal at gunpoint.
"Leo, stop," Clara said sharply, stepping down onto the wet grass. "If you kill him here, the tracking beacon in his radio goes live to a central server. Within twenty minutes, a tactical response team will level this entire ridge."
Leo glanced back at Clara, suspicion flaring hot in his chest. "How do you know about the radio beacon, Clara? You haven't mentioned your employers once tonight."
Clara met his gaze without flinching, stepping closer despite the pistol pointed at Vance.
"Because I installed the tracking software on your car when you stopped at the red light three miles outside of town," Clara said coolly. "I work for the oversight committee. And Vance isn't the only corrupt asset we've been hunting for the past six months."
Vance let out a dry, hacking laugh, twisting his neck slightly against the pressure of Leo’s barrel.
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"She's telling the truth, Leo," Vance wheezed. "Clara isn't a waitress. She’s the internal affairs auditor who signed off on your execution orders before she realized the entire file was falsified by the director."
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