Chapter 5 - The Missing Piece
Evelyn froze, the color draining from her face as Aidan’s words sank into her consciousness. The silence in the grand ballroom felt suffocating now, heavy with the realization that arresting Matthew and Serena was only the tip of a much larger, more dangerous iceberg.
“What do you mean, they know about Lily?” Evelyn asked, her voice cracking slightly as she gripped the edge of the mahogany console for support. Her knuckles turned white against the polished wood.
Aidan walked over to her, his dark styled hair slightly ruffled from the tension of the evening. He pulled a small, encrypted tablet from his beige trousers and tapped the screen to reveal a live security feed.
“While the agents were taking Matthew away, my contact at the federal bureau flagged an unauthorized ping on the security system of the safe house where Lily is staying,” Aidan explained quickly, swiping the screen to show a grainy exterior camera view of a suburban brick house surrounded by towering oak trees.
Evelyn stared at the tiny screen, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. Two dark unmarked sedans were parked at the edge of the driveway, their headlights switched off, blending seamlessly into the midnight shadows.
“Who are they?” Evelyn whispered, horror gripping her throat. “If Matthew and Serena are in custody, who else could possibly know where she is?”
“That’s the terrifying part,” Aidan said grimly, turning the tablet so she could see the timestamp on the video feed. “The ping didn't come from Matthew’s network. It came from an encrypted satellite phone registered to the Swiss holding company that actually owns the majority shares of our corporation—the entity we couldn't unmask during the audit.”
Evelyn’s breath hitched. For months, she had believed Matthew and Serena were the masterminds behind the financial ruin and the psychological torture she had endured. But realizing there was an unseen puppet master pulling the strings from across the Atlantic changed the entire equation of her survival.
“We have to get to her before they do,” Evelyn said, determination overriding her fear as she grabbed her torn cardigan and pulled it tightly around her shoulders.
“The federal marshals won't let us leave the premises until we give our formal statements,” Aidan warned, glancing toward the ballroom doors where two guards were stationed outside. “If we try to sneak out now, we’ll be flagged as flight risks, and we won't be able to help Lily at all.”
Evelyn looked around the grand, glittering room, her eyes landing on a service elevator tucked away behind a velvet curtain in the corner—an escape route she had memorized during her years attending corporate galas.
“Then we don't go through the front door,” Evelyn whispered, her gaze hardening into a cold resolve.
May you like
She walked swiftly toward the velvet curtain, pulling it back to reveal the steel service doors. But as she reached for the handle, the elevator chime pinged softly, and the doors slid open to reveal a figure standing inside holding a manila folder marked with her daughter's name.
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