Chapter 3: The Breach
Emma could barely feel her hands anymore.
Ice clung to her eyelashes.
Every breath felt smaller than the last.
Her phone flashed one final warning.
Battery critical.
She looked at the screen one last time.
Millions of people were watching.
They knew the truth.
Even if she never walked out...
Victor couldn't erase what the world had already seen.
The phone slipped from her numb fingers.
Her eyelids slowly closed.
Then—
A thunderous explosion shattered the silence.
Metal screamed.
An industrial rescue saw ripped through the frozen locking mechanism, sending sparks across the steel floor.
The freezer door burst inward.
Warm kitchen air rushed inside.
Blinding tactical lights filled the room.
SWAT officers stormed through the opening while paramedics dropped to their knees beside her.
"We've got her!"
"She's alive!"
A thermal blanket wrapped around Emma's trembling body as oxygen was pressed over her face.
Someone squeezed her hand.
"Stay with us."
"We're getting you out."
Twenty miles away...
Victor's Maybach skidded across the private runway.
His Gulfstream jet waited with engines already roaring.
He ran up the boarding stairs without looking back.
Freedom...
was only seconds away.
Then black SUVs exploded onto the tarmac.
Federal agents surrounded the aircraft before the cabin door could close.
Weapons raised.
No escape.
A voice thundered through a bullhorn.
"Victor Vance!"
"This is the FBI!"
"Exit the aircraft immediately with your hands visible!"
A long silence followed.
Then Victor slowly stepped back into the morning light.
May you like
For the first time in years...
he looked afraid.
