Chapter 17 - THE MIDNIGHT STORAGE UNIT

Grant wanted to ignore the message and surround the storage facility with officers.

Mara believed Cole had prepared for that.

“He knows how police respond,” she said.

“He learned from Travis.”

Grant created a controlled operation.

Mara would enter the facility wearing a concealed microphone.

Officers would remain beyond the outer fence.

I stayed at the safe house with Eli and Grace.

At 11:48 p.m., the security feed showed Mara unlocking Unit 217.

The storage room contained filing boxes, an old desk, and a locked metal cabinet.

Cole was not there.

A phone rang inside the cabinet.

Mara answered it.

Cole’s voice came through the microphone.

“You brought the police.”

“No.”

“You were always a terrible liar.”

“What do you want?”

“The complete recovery phrase.”

“The money is frozen.”

“Not all of it.”

Mara opened the cabinet.

Inside was a tablet displaying live video from the safe house.

The camera showed Eli sitting beside Grace’s crib.

Someone had hacked the security system.

“You touch my children, and I will testify until you spend the rest of your life behind bars,” Mara said.

Cole laughed softly.

“You still believe prison is the worst thing I can do to you.”

The video suddenly changed.

It showed the safe house from the forest.

A red laser dot moved across the living room wall.

I saw it before Grant could warn us.

I grabbed Eli and pulled him to the floor.

A shot shattered the window.

The bullet struck the fireplace.

I crawled toward Grace’s crib and lifted her.

Another shot hit the wall.

Security officers rushed into the room.

They fired toward the tree line.

A man ran through the forest.

Grant’s backup team captured him near the lake.

He was not Cole.

He was a former courthouse security technician who had worked for Judge Voss.

Inside his backpack were a rifle, hacking equipment, and a phone connected to Cole.

At the storage facility, Mara heard the arrest through her microphone.

“You failed,” she told Cole.

“No,” he replied.

“I found out exactly where my family is.”

The live video went black.

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Outside the safe house, the power failed.

Then we heard an engine approaching through the trees.