Chapter 10 - The Price on Her Head
Chloe did not follow blindly.
That was what the old Chloe might have done.
The woman who had escaped Derek understood traps.
She sent the location to the agents.
Then she called Marco.
“You want the password.”
Silence.
Then Marco laughed.
“You continue to surprise me.”
“The drive is encrypted.”
“Yes.”
“You can’t open it.”
“Not yet.”
“You never will without me.”
That was a lie.
Chloe had no idea whether he could break the encryption.
But uncertainty was useful.
“What do you want?” Marco asked.
“Vincent.”
“You’re negotiating with something you don’t own.”
“I own the password.”
A pause.
“Pier Nine.”
The place from the first call.
Everything circled back.
Chloe arrived with Maria nearby and agents watching from concealed positions.
Marco brought Vincent.
His face was bruised but he was standing.
Chloe’s chest tightened.
Vincent looked furious when he saw her.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
She almost laughed.
“That seems to be your favorite sentence.”
Marco pushed Vincent forward.
“Password.”
“Let him go.”
“No.”
“Then no password.”
Marco raised his weapon.
Vincent didn’t flinch.
Chloe looked at him.
There were a thousand things she could have said.
Instead:
“Do you trust me?”
Vincent answered immediately.
“Yes.”
Chloe smiled.
Then she gave Marco the password.
He entered it.
The drive opened.
Marco grinned.
Then his smile disappeared.
The folders were empty.
“What did you do?”
Chloe looked toward the water.
“Uploaded everything.”
Sirens erupted.
Marco grabbed her.
Vincent moved.
Chaos followed.
Agents closed in.
Marco escaped through a maintenance passage.
But Vincent and Chloe survived.
The files were now in federal custody.
The network began collapsing within hours.
Judges resigned.
Officers were arrested.
Accounts were frozen.
For the first time, Marco was running.
Chloe should have felt safe.
She didn’t.
That evening, Vincent took her to a secure apartment.
He stood near the door.
“You should sleep.”
“So should you.”
“I will.”
“You’re lying.”
“Yes.”
She smiled faintly.
Then she touched his bruised cheek.
Vincent went completely still.
“Does that hurt?”
“Less than it should.”
Their eyes met.
The space between them changed.
Chloe withdrew first.
“I’m not ready.”
Vincent nodded.
“I know.”
No pressure.
No disappointment.
That simple acceptance affected her more deeply than any grand declaration could have.
She went to bed.
At 3:17 a.m., she woke to silence.
Too much silence.
She walked into the living room.
Vincent was gone.
The security guard outside was unconscious.
The front door stood open.
On the floor lay Vincent’s phone.
A message glowed across the screen.
CHLOE BENNETT: $5,000,000.
May you like
Under it was a photograph of her face.
Marco had put a price on her head.
