Chapter 6 - THE RAT RACES FOR THE BORDERWithin two hours of the failed kidnapping attempt, federal warrants were issued for the immediate arrest of Andrew Vaughn and Victoria Hale.
Inside the Gold Coast penthouse, chaos had erupted.
Andrew was frantically stuffing wads of cash, diamond watches, and bearer bonds into a leather duffel bag. Victoria was screaming into her phone, trying to charter a private jet out of Midway Airport to a non-extradition country in South America.
“The pilot wants fifty thousand dollars in cash upfront!” Victoria screamed, slamming her phone onto the glass table. “Andrew, hurry up! The police are going to be here any minute!”
“I’m moving as fast as I can!” Andrew yelled back, his face soaked in sweat, his hair wild and unkempt. “My mother failed! That useless old woman couldn't even pull off a simple trick!”
“Forget your mother!” Victoria yelled, grabbing her coat. “Where are the offshore encryption keys? We need the funds in the Cayman accounts to survive once we land!”
Andrew grabbed a black encrypted flash drive from his safe—the primary drive containing access to seventy million dollars in hidden offshore funds. “I have it right here! Once we get on that plane, we transfer the funds to the dummy corporation and we’re rich again!”
They rushed out of the penthouse, took the private service elevator down to the underground parking garage, and jumped into Andrew’s black sports car.
Andrew slammed his foot on the gas pedal, the engine roaring as the car blasted out of the garage and tore onto the rainy streets of Chicago.
“Is anyone following us?!” Andrew shouted, checking his rear-view mirror nervously.
“No!” Victoria checked behind them. “I don’t see any police cars! We’re going to make it!”
They arrived at the private airfield near Midway Airport twenty minutes later. A sleek gulfstream jet was waiting on the tarmac, its engines idling, ready for takeoff.
Andrew laughed hysterically, tears of relief streaming down his face as he parked the car near the hangar. “We did it! We actually did it! Mara thought she was so smart, but I’m leaving her with nothing but a dying company!”
They ran up the metal stairs into the luxury cabin of the private jet.
“Close the door! Take off now!” Andrew ordered the flight attendant standing near the entrance.
The flight attendant didn't move. She simply stepped aside.
Sitting in the plush leather captain’s seat at the front of the cabin, calmly sipping a cup of chamomile tea, was me.
And sitting beside me, playing a game of chess on an iPad, was Ethan.
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Andrew and Victoria froze in their tracks, looking as if they had just seen two ghosts.
“Welcome aboard, Andrew,” I said, placing my teacup down with a soft click. “Nice night for a flight, isn't it?”
