Chapter 18 - The Traitor at the TableEvelyn's blood trail ended at the rear entrance.
There was no body.
No shell casing.
No evidence.
Only a smear disappearing into the rain.
Marin stood beneath the station awning, staring into the darkness.
“She survived,” she said.
Elias nodded.
“You sound certain.”
“I've spent too many years around people who wanted me dead. If someone wants you to believe they died, they usually want something from you.”
They returned to the Ferrante estate before sunrise.
Elias immediately summoned his inner circle.
Eight senior members sat around the long conference table.
Marin stood beside him.
No one spoke.
Elias placed the photograph on the table.
“This photograph was taken outside my home.”
Silence.
He placed the handwritten threat beside it.
“This message was delivered through our security perimeter.”
Several men exchanged nervous glances.
Marin watched them.
She wasn't looking for fear.
She was looking for recognition.
One man avoided her eyes.
Victor Hale.
Elias's financial strategist for nearly nine years.
Marin noticed the movement.
“Victor.”
He looked up.
“Yes?”
“When did you last access the external security server?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
“Who authorized it?”
“You did.”
Elias frowned.
“I didn't.”
Victor's face went pale.
“I received a digital authorization.”
“From whom?”
“I assumed it was from your office.”
Marin stepped toward him.
“Show me.”
Victor pulled out his phone.
The authorization appeared on the screen.
Marin studied it.
Then she smiled.
“What?”
“The signature is fake.”
Elias turned toward her.
“How can you tell?”
“Because I designed the encryption.”
She took the phone.
“This isn't someone copying your authorization. It's someone who understands the system but doesn't understand the person who built it.”
She looked around the room.
“Which means the breach came from inside.”
Every guard immediately reached for his weapon.
Elias raised one hand.
“Don't.”
Marin pointed toward the ceiling.
“Someone installed a secondary camera in this room.”
Everyone looked up.
A tiny black lens sat inside a smoke detector.
Elias's face darkened.
“Find it.”
His men moved.
But Marin was already walking toward the wall.
She pressed her fingers against a decorative panel.
A faint click sounded.
The panel opened.
Behind it was a compact transmitter.
Marin removed it.
The device was still warm.
Someone had been listening to them.
“Whoever planted this knew exactly where we would meet.”
Victor stood.
“I swear I didn't—”
Marin raised a hand.
“I didn't accuse you.”
Victor stopped.
She looked at Elias.
“That's the problem.”
Elias understood immediately.
The traitor wanted Victor blamed.
A second device suddenly beeped.
Marin's eyes widened.
“Everyone out!”
The room exploded with smoke.
Guards stumbled backward.
Marin grabbed Elias and pulled him beneath the table as a deafening blast shattered the windows.
Glass rained across the floor.
When the smoke cleared, one chair was empty.
Victor was gone.
Elias stared at the broken window.
“Kidnapped?”
Marin shook her head.
“No.”
She picked up the chair.
A tiny bloodstain marked the cushion.
“He wasn't taken.”
May you like
She looked toward the shattered window.
“He was the traitor.”
Related Stories
