Chapter 11 - The Man Who Sold Her
By sunrise, Chloe could trust almost no one.
Vincent returned thirty minutes later.
He had gone downstairs after noticing surveillance.
He found the guard attacked and chased the intruder.
Chloe showed him the bounty.
His expression hardened.
“You’re leaving the city.”
“No.”
“Chloe.”
“No.”
“You have five million reasons to reconsider.”
“And Marco has five million reasons to chase me wherever I go.”
Vincent couldn’t argue with that.
Derek asked to speak with Chloe.
She agreed.
Under guard.
He looked smaller now.
Not physically.
The illusion around him was gone.
“I’m sorry.”
Chloe said nothing.
“I know that doesn’t fix anything.”
“No.”
“I loved you.”
“Maybe you believed you did.”
Derek lowered his head.
“You sold information about me.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Marco find my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You hurt me.”
His voice broke.
“Yes.”
Chloe looked at him for a long time.
“I’m not going to tell you that’s okay.”
“I know.”
“And I’m not going back.”
“I know.”
That was the end of them.
Not forgiveness.
Not revenge.
An ending.
Derek provided one final piece of information.
Marco’s money moved through a man called Ellis Crane.
Crane had arranged the bounty.
Vincent recognized the name.
His father’s former attorney.
They found Crane at a private club.
Under pressure from federal investigators, he talked.
Marco planned to flee that night.
But before leaving, he intended to destroy the original Moretti records.
They were stored beneath an old warehouse.
Vincent and Chloe exchanged a look.
“The door beneath the warehouse,” Maria said when told.
She knew it.
Carlo had built a records vault there decades earlier.
If Marco destroyed it, hundreds of victims might never prove what had happened to them.
Chloe insisted on going.
Vincent refused.
They argued.
Then Chloe said quietly:
“Don’t become another man who decides where I’m allowed to go.”
Vincent stopped.
That landed.
He nodded.
“You’re right.”
She hadn’t expected agreement so quickly.
“You stay with the agents.”
“Agreed.”
“No improvising.”
“I’ll try.”
“That is not reassuring.”
For the first time in days, they both laughed.
The warehouse operation began at midnight.
Agents entered from three sides.
Vincent accompanied them because he knew the building.
Chloe remained in the command vehicle.
For eleven minutes, everything went according to plan.
Then communication died.
Every screen went black.
Chloe stared at the warehouse.
A side door opened.
Derek stumbled outside.
He was bleeding.
Chloe ran to him.
“What happened?”
“Marco knew.”
“Where’s Vincent?”
Derek grabbed her arm.
“Chloe, listen to me.”
“What?”
“There’s someone else.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Who?”
Derek looked toward the warehouse.
“The person who sold your location to Marco.”
A figure appeared in the doorway.
May you like
Chloe recognized the face.
And suddenly she understood why Marco had always been one step ahead.
