Chapter 10 - THE MESSAGE FROM VICTOR SLOANE
Nathan tried to leave.
The front doors locked before he reached them.
Federal agents entered from both corridors.
He turned toward me with pure hatred.
“You used me.”
I remained beside the fireplace.
“You taught me how.”
An agent took Nathan’s phone.
The message from Victor Sloane contained only an address and four words.
BRING BOTH KEYS.
COME ALONE.
The address belonged to an abandoned customs facility near Port Langston.
Dad entered from the library.
Nathan laughed when he saw him.
“You really think Victor will be there?”
Dad did not answer.
“He’s smarter than you.”
“Perhaps.”
“He beat you once.”
“Yes.”
Nathan smiled.
“And he’ll beat you again.”
Dad walked closer.
“The difference is that last time I trusted him.”
The agents escorted Nathan away.
His usefulness was not finished.
Investigators needed him to appear cooperative long enough to draw Victor into the open.
Nathan agreed only after his attorneys explained the alternatives.
Conspiracy.
Money laundering.
Obstruction.
Fraud.
Kidnapping conspiracy related to Martin Crane if evidence connected him.
And the assault against me.
He wanted a deal.
Prosecutors offered nothing yet.
At two in the morning, the operation moved toward Port Langston.
I was ordered to remain at Blackthorn Manor.
I ignored the order.
Dad found me climbing into one of the security vehicles.
“Get out.”
“No.”
“This is not your battle.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Sloane is dangerous.”
“So is Nathan.”
“You nearly died because of Nathan.”
“And that is exactly why I’m done sitting quietly while powerful men decide what happens to my life.”
Dad stared at me for several seconds.
Then opened the passenger door.
“Stay in the command vehicle.”
“I will.”
“Do not leave it.”
“I won’t.”
He gave me the look fathers give daughters when both know the daughter is lying.
Forty minutes later, we reached Port Langston.
The abandoned customs building stood beside the water.
Fog rolled across stacked containers.
Nathan entered alone carrying two replica drives.
The real keys remained with federal cybercrime specialists.
For fourteen minutes, nothing happened.
Then the lights inside the building came on.
One floor.
Then another.
A figure appeared behind the third-floor window.
Dad leaned toward the monitor.
My heart stopped.
Silver hair.
Tall frame.
Dark coat.
Victor Sloane.
Alive.
Nathan’s microphone activated.
“You said come alone.”
Victor’s voice answered.
“You never learned what alone means.”
Nathan looked around.
Victor laughed.
“Elias.”
Dad stiffened.
“I know you’re listening.”
Every agent in the command vehicle became silent.
Victor continued.
“And I know your daughter is there.”
My father looked at me.
Nobody had told Victor.
Nobody outside the operation knew I had come.
Then my phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared.
It showed me sitting inside the command vehicle.
Taken seconds earlier.
May you like
Underneath were three words.
HELLO, LITTLE VALE.
