Chapter 15
Bear blamed himself.
“Luis trusted me.”
“He may still be alive,” I said.
Daniel sent an address near downtown Nashville.
Federal agents wanted to control the exchange.
Bear refused.
“If Daniel sees them, Luis dies.”
I offered myself without hesitation.
Emily grabbed my arm.
“You just got me back.”
“And I’m coming back again.”
Bear looked at me for a long moment.
“You sound certain.”
“I have three children waiting now.”
Sophie managed a weak smile.
We created a false flash drive and concealed a tracker inside my coat.
At midnight, I entered an unfinished office tower alone.
Luis sat tied beneath a work light.
Daniel stood behind him.
“You always collect damaged people,” he said.
“They’re stronger than you.”
He searched me and found the tracker immediately.
Then he crushed it.
“Richard taught me never to trust a grieving woman.”
I handed him the drive.
He released Luis but locked the stairwell door.
“You never intended to trade me,” I said.
“No. I intend to make you confess.”
A camera turned toward us.
Daniel displayed a prepared statement saying I stole Emily’s trust, kidnapped Sophie, and murdered Richard’s boating companion.
“Read it.”
I refused.
Daniel pushed Luis toward an open elevator shaft.
I began reading.
Halfway through, every screen in the building changed.
Jo’s face appeared.
“Smile, Daniel.”
The false drive had connected his system to a public broadcast.
Thousands watched him threaten us.
Daniel lunged for the computer.
Luis struck him with the chair.
Bear broke through the locked stairwell.
Daniel escaped onto the roof.
A helicopter waited there.
May you like
Richard sat inside it.
He had somehow escaped federal custody.
