Chapter 7 - The Hostile Exchange
Sabine’s breath hitched in her throat, her designer facade shattering into pure, clawing panic.
“I don't know!” she shrieked, clawing at his iron wrists. “Vance’s team reported a firefight at the dock! Someone else was there! A third party took her out on a boat before Vance’s men could secure the perimeter!”
Cassian released her with a violent shove, sending her sprawling across the marble floor.
Her handbag spilled open, scattering lipsticks, private keys, and a burner phone across the tiles.
Before Cassian could pick up the phone, his private line began to vibrate on the dining table.
The caller ID showed an unlisted satellite frequency.
Cassian lunged across the room, snatching the receiver and pressing it to his ear. “Who is this?”
“Veyer,” a calm, deep voice replied over the crackling satellite link. “This is Julian Drake. Your wife is alive, uninjured, and currently under my operational protection.”
Cassian let out a ragged, shuddering breath, his knees nearly giving out beneath him as he gripped the edge of the mahogany table.
“Drake?” Cassian rasped. “Who the hell are you? Let me speak to Eloan! Put my wife on the phone right now!”
“You gave up the right to speak to your wife the moment you chose another woman’s convenience over her safety,” Drake replied smoothly, without a trace of hesitation or fear.
“I didn't know!” Cassian roared, tears of fury and relief burning in his eyes. “I was blind! Sabine set the whole thing up with Vance! Tell Eloan I’m coming for her! Tell her I have private security mobilized across the entire tri-state area!”
“Listen to me very carefully, Veyer,” Drake interrupted, his voice turning to steel. “Harlan Vance’s mercenaries have intercepted our secondary convoy route near Milwaukee. They have two armored trucks and twelve armed contractors blocking the interstate.”
Cassian’s business instincts snapped into place with terrifying speed.
“Where are you?” Cassian demanded.
“Pier 14, Port of Kenosha,” Drake said. “Vance is moving in to cut off our extraction to the private airfield. If you want your child to take its first breath, stop yelling into a telephone and bring every piece of private muscle you own to the Kenosha waterfront in twenty minutes.”
The line went dead.
Cassian didn't hesitate for a single second.
He turned toward the elevator, drawing his heavy overcoat over his shoulders, completely ignoring Sabine who was sobbing hysterically on the floor.
May you like
He tapped his encrypted radio, patching directly through to the head of Veyer Security Operations.
“Deploy tactical teams Alpha, Bravo, and Delta,” Cassian ordered, his voice echoing through the penthouse like a declaration of war. “Authorize full kinetic response against any Harlan Vance asset in the Kenosha sector. We are bringing my wife home.”
