Chapter 12 - THE GOVERNOR’S HAND|
The air in the cold boathouse felt suddenly suffocating.
"Governor Victor Vance," Marcus read aloud, his eyes wide with shock. "Your... your cousin?"
Victor Vance wasn't just the Governor; he was Uncle Richard’s son. My first cousin. We had grown up together at family gatherings. He was the golden boy of the family, the charismatic politician who had built his campaign on ending corporate corruption in Illinois.
"He used his political power to shield Erebus Holdings from federal investigations," I realized, the pieces of the puzzle violently snapping into place. "He used my auditing firm to clean his dark money. And when I got too close to discovering the ledger, he ordered Adrian to eliminate me."
"It makes total sense," Marcus said grimly. "A five million dollar life insurance payout wouldn't just enrich Adrian. It would have settled Erebus’s immediate liquidity problem without triggering an audit."
Suddenly, the screen on Marcus's laptop flickered red.
A loud, piercing alarm chimed from the software.
GPS TRACKING SIGNAL ACTIVATED.
"Damn it!" Marcus cursed, slamming the laptop screen down. "The micro-SD card had a dormant location beacon programmed to trigger the moment it unencrypted!"
Outside the boathouse, heavy headlights cut through the dark fog over the lake.
Engine hums rattled the wooden walls. Multiple black SUVs were pulling up to the perimeter, surrounding us completely.
May you like
A megavoice echoed across the water, amplified and terrifyingly authoritative.
"Hannah! Marcus! This is the State Police! Put your hands up and step outside! You are wanted for treason and domestic terrorism!"
