Chapter 32 - The Hunt Continues
Recovery was slow, agonizing, and frustrating. Every day I spent in that hospital bed was a day the Serpent’s remaining leaders used to regroup. By the time I was discharged, a month had passed. The news was still dominated by the scandal. Arrests were happening, but the key players—the ones who had actually orchestrated the trials—were nowhere to be found.
"They’ve scrubbed their digital footprints," Elias said, his voice coming through the phone. "I can't track them."
"They have to be somewhere," I insisted, pacing the hotel room.
"Think, Amanda," Arthur said. "Where would you go if your entire network was burned, your bank accounts frozen, and you were the most wanted person on Earth?"
"I'd go to the vault," I said, a realization dawning on me.
"The vault?"
"My mother told me stories," I said, my mind racing. "A place in the islands. An offshore sanctuary where the Serpent kept their 'insurance'—the physical records, the wealth, the leverage. It was supposed to be a myth, but if it exists, that’s where they’ll be."
"How do we find it?"
"We don't," I said, a dark smile forming on my lips. "We lure them out. We leak a fake document, a new piece of 'evidence' that forces them to go to the vault to protect their remaining secrets."
May you like
Arthur stared at me. "You’re baiting a trap."
"Exactly," I said. "And this time, we’re the ones waiting in the dark."
