Chapter 8 - THE GHOST IN THE SUIT|
A tall man stepped through the threshold, stepping over the body of the fallen Marshal without a second glance.
He wore a tailored dark charcoal suit, leather gloves, and a silver lapel pin shaped like a coiled serpent. He carried a sleek black pistol equipped with a heavy suppressor.
He didn't look like a thug. He looked like an executive.
"Hannah Prescott," the man said smoothly, his voice cultured and devoid of any emotion. "Or should I say, Hannah Vance. You've caused our board of directors a great deal of trouble."
"Who are you?" I demanded, backing my shoulders against the headboard, using my cast as a crude shield. "Did Richard send you?"
The man chuckled softly, a sound entirely lacking in warmth. "Your uncle? Richard is a minor shareholder, my dear. He was merely the bait we used to lure you into marrying Adrian. Adrian was supposed to be the quiet solution. A simple accident, a massive payout, and no questions asked."
He raised the weapon, pointing it directly between my eyes.
"But you had to play forensic auditor," he sighed. "You had to dig into Erebus."
"If you kill me, you'll never get the encryption keys," I bluffed, staring down the barrel of the gun. "My drive is locked with a three-layer biometrics system. If my heart stops beating, the entire ledger is automatically leaked to the FBI and the IRS."
The man paused, his finger lingering on the trigger. A flicker of calculation passed through his cold eyes.
"A dead-man's switch," he murmured. "Clever girl. I expected nothing less from a former state auditor."
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He lowered the gun slightly, pulling a small silver syringe from his inner jacket pocket.
"Then we won't kill you just yet," he smiled wickedly. "We'll just put you in a deep, irreversible coma until our technicians can bypass your server."
