Chapter 5 – The Escape Through the Basement
Victor entered Tyler’s room with a pistol held low against his leg.
He was not alone.
A second man waited behind him.
Victor had attended Natalie and Harrison’s wedding. He had held Tyler as a newborn. He had spent Christmases at their home and called himself Uncle Victor.
Now he looked at Natalie without emotion.
“Give me the flash drive.”
“You helped Harrison threaten my son.”
“I helped Harrison protect his company.”
“You used Tyler’s identity to steal money.”
Victor’s expression tightened.
“You have no idea what you’re involved in.”
Maya stood beside the desk, one hand hidden behind her back.
Natalie knew she was holding the laptop.
“If we disappear,” Natalie said, “the files go public.”
It was a bluff.
Victor studied her face.
“Tyler said you were a terrible liar.”
The second man stepped forward.
Maya suddenly hurled Tyler’s desk lamp across the room.
The bulb shattered.
Darkness swallowed the hallway.
Natalie swung the flashlight into Victor’s wrist. The pistol fell. Maya grabbed Natalie’s arm, and they ran toward the back stairs.
Victor shouted behind them.
The women raced through the kitchen and into the basement. Natalie slammed the door and turned the deadbolt.
The basement had one narrow window near the ceiling.
Maya climbed onto the washing machine and kicked at the glass.
Upstairs, someone struck the basement door.
The frame shook.
Natalie lifted Maya through the broken window. Maya crawled onto the grass and turned back.
The door splintered.
Natalie jumped, caught the edge of the window, and pulled herself upward as footsteps thundered down the stairs.
A hand closed around her ankle.
Victor dragged her halfway back inside.
Natalie kicked desperately.
Maya reached through the opening and grabbed both her wrists.
“Hold on!”
Victor pulled harder.
Natalie’s injured shoulder screamed.
Then police sirens sounded in the distance.
Victor released her.
Maya dragged Natalie through the window.
They ran between neighboring houses as Victor and his associate escaped through the front.
Officer Ramirez arrived minutes later with two patrol cars.
Natalie showed him the broken window and the damaged basement door. She told him everything about Victor, Harrison, and the hidden accounts.
Ramirez listened without interrupting.
When she mentioned Agent Reed, his expression changed.
“Marcus Reed?”
“You know him?”
“He’s with the FBI’s financial crimes unit.”
“Tyler told me to find him.”
Ramirez looked toward the street.
“Then your son has been investigating his father longer than anyone realized.”
Using a prepaid phone purchased at an all-night pharmacy, Natalie called the number Tyler had saved on the drive.
Special Agent Marcus Reed answered with a single word.
“Reed.”
“My name is Natalie Bennett.”
Silence followed.
Then he said, “Where is your son?”
“With Harrison. They left for Europe.”
“Do you have the black access card?”
“Yes.”
“And the drive?”
“Yes.”
Reed exhaled.
“Listen carefully. Do not go to a police station. Do not contact your divorce attorney. Do not return home.”
“Why?”
“Because Harrison Vale has spent years buying loyalty.”
Natalie looked at Ramirez.
“Who can I trust?”
“For the next twelve hours?” Reed replied. “No one you haven’t known since before you married him.”
“Can you bring Tyler home?”
“I can try.”
“That isn’t good enough.”
“It will have to be, because Harrison’s plane landed in London ninety minutes ago.”
Natalie’s heart pounded.
“Where are they now?”
“They never left the airport.”
“Then where did they go?”
“A private aircraft departed twelve minutes later.”
May you like
Reed paused.
“It’s heading to Zurich.”
