Chapter 18 - The Toxic Earth
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The Hensley tract was a massive, terrifying wasteland of rusted metal and decaying concrete silos, surrounded by a high chain-link fence. The snow was falling heavier now, coating the toxic soil in a deceptive, beautiful white blanket.
Daniel parked the car a block away, hidden behind an abandoned warehouse.
“The FBI tactical team is en route,” Daniel whispered, checking his phone. “They are five minutes out. You just have to keep him talking until they arrive.”
“I can do this,” I said, though another agonizing contraction ripped through my back, doubling me over.
Mara grabbed my hand. “Evelyn, you are going into premature labor. This is incredibly dangerous.”
“I am a trauma nurse,” I breathed through the pain, standing up straight. “I can hold it together for five minutes.”
I walked through the rusted gates alone, clutching a blank manila folder to my chest. The wind howled through the skeletal remains of the factories. I stood in the center of the largest clearing, the exact spot where the explosive charges were rumored to be buried.
Headlights cut through the darkness.
Matthias’s luxury SUV rolled through the gates, stopping twenty yards away. He stepped out into the snow, wearing a heavy cashmere overcoat, looking like a king surveying his ruined kingdom. He was alone.
“You look terrible, Evelyn,” Matthias sneered, walking slowly toward me. “Where is your lawyer?”
“I came alone,” I said, holding the folder up. “I want a divorce. I want full custody of my daughter. And I want twenty million dollars transferred to my account by morning, or you never see this deed.”
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Matthias laughed, a harsh, echoing sound in the empty wasteland.
“You think you are in a position to negotiate?” Matthias smiled, pulling a sleek, suppressed handgun from his coat pocket. “I’m not buying the land from you, Evelyn. I’m simply going to take the paper off your corpse.”
