Chapter 9 - The Watcher in the DarkDeep in the subterranean parking garage beneath Mercer Harbor Group headquarters, the air was cool and smelled of exhaust and damp concrete.
A black sedan sat idling in space 412, its headlights off.
Inside, a man leaned back against the driver’s seat, tapping a scarred finger against the steering wheel. It was Marcus’s former assistant—or rather, the man who had supplied Damon with the counterfeit catering uniform and the stolen access codes. His name was Kenneth Vance, Damon’s younger brother, and unlike his sibling, he wasn’t reckless.
He was patient.
Kenneth pulled a small tablet from the passenger seat, illuminating his face in a harsh blue glow. On the screen was a live security feed of Grace Miller walking through the lobby upstairs, followed by architectural blueprints of the corporate headquarters.
“So, the maid thinks she’s a corporate executive now,” Kenneth muttered to himself, a cold, calculating smile playing across his lips.
He tapped the screen, bringing up a confidential internal memo regarding Mercer Harbor Group’s upcoming multi-billion-dollar acquisition of a major shipping port in Singapore.
Damon had been the muscle. Damon had been the distraction.
Kenneth was the strategist. And his brother’s arrest was nothing more than a minor setback—a calculated sacrifice to draw Julian Mercer’s security team out into the open and test their defenses.
Now, Kenneth knew exactly how Grace Miller operated. He knew her reflexes. He knew her background.
And he knew how to use her mother against her.
He pulled out a burner phone, dialing a 10-digit number that patched straight through to a private investigator working inside the long-term rehabilitation center in Bridgeport where Linda Miller was staying.
“Is she still there?” Kenneth asked quietly into the receiver.
“Affirmative,” a raspy voice whispered on the other end. “Room 304. Guarded by a private nurse, but the shift changes at midnight.”
Kenneth’s smile widened into something truly predatory.
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“Good. Don’t touch her yet. Just keep eyes on her. When I give the word, we’re going to teach the billionaire’s new favorite employee a lesson she’ll never forget.”
He hung up the phone, threw the sedan into gear, and drove out into the Stamford night, leaving behind a trail of exhaust that slowly dissolved into the shadows.
