Chapter 36: The Shadow Patriarch
Chapter 36: The Shadow Patriarch
The outboards cut their engines simultaneously.
The silence returned to the marsh, save for the rhythmic clicking of cicadas. Five minutes later, the heavy wooden front door of the stilt house opened.
Two Aegis mercenaries stepped in, their rifles held at low-ready, followed by a man who looked like a ghost brought to life. He was in his early sixties, with silver-streaked hair, a tailored linen suit that looked absurd in the muddy marsh, and eyes that perfectly matched Sarah’s.
Thomas Sterling.
He looked at Sarah, his gaze lingering on her face for three long seconds before shifting to the baby in her arms.
"You have your mother's spine," Sterling said, his voice the exact match of the cassette tape. "She always knew how to hold a negotiation."
"Don't talk about her," Sarah said, her thumb hovering over the open marsh floorboards beneath her feet, where the dark water swirled below. "You left me with the Vances. You let me live as a servant in that mansion while you played dictator in Brazil."
"I left you where you were safe, Sarah," Sterling said smoothly, taking a slow step forward. "If I had kept you with me, the Vance family would have used their government connections to destroy us both. James was a snake, but he kept his word until his wife lost her mind."
He looked at Arthur, his eyes turning to absolute ice. "And you... Captain Hale. The man who pulled the trigger in Miami. I see you've become a guardian angel. Irony is a funny thing."
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Arthur didn't lower his weapon, his eyes locked on Sterling’s chest. "You're a dead man walking, Thomas. Reyes has the federal authorities tracking this entire sector."
"The federal authorities work for the highest bidder, Colonel," Sterling smiled. He looked back at Sarah, extending a well-manicured hand. "Give me the drive, Sarah. Come with me to Argentina. I will give your daughter an empire that makes the Vance fortune look like pocket change."
