Chapter 5 - THE MIDNIGHT VISITORAt 3:00 AM, the penthouse security system chimed softly—a low, rhythmic pulse indicating motion near the private service elevator on our floor.
I instantly pulled away from the sofa, my hand sliding under the cushion to retrieve the compact Glock 19 I had left there earlier. Catherine stiffened, clutching Penelope tighter against her chest.
“Stay here,” I whispered, rising silently to my feet.
I crept toward the heavy oak entryway, my eyes locked on the small digital monitor embedded in the wall. The camera pointed down the private hallway showed a figure standing motionless before our door. It wasn't a federal agent, nor was it a reporter.
It was Elena, Daria’s longtime personal assistant and head of internal security.
She looked frantic. Her hair was disheveled, her coat half-buttoned, and she was clutching a heavy leather briefcase tightly against her chest. She wasn't holding a weapon; she was holding a lifeline.
I unlocked the deadbolt with a soft click and yanked the door open, the barrel of my gun pointed downward, ready for anything.
Elena gasped, stumbling backward a step, her hands raised defensively. “Mr. Kincaid! Please—don't shoot. I’m not here to hurt you.”
“What are you doing here, Elena?” I demanded, my voice cutting through the silence of the hallway like a blade. “If Daria sent you—”
“Daria is finished!” Elena interrupted frantically, her eyes darting nervously down the empty hallway. “She’s locked in a federal holding cell, and her entire network is collapsing. But she left instructions. Not for you—for me. She had a contingency plan if the feds ever raided her main estate.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of contingency plan?”
Elena swallowed hard, stepping forward and holding out the leather briefcase. “This contains the master keys, offshore account numbers in the Cayman Islands, and—most importantly—the physical hard drives containing every illegal transaction Daria made over the last decade, including the kidnapping order for your wife.”
I stared at the briefcase, suspicious. “Why bring this to me? You were her most loyal lieutenant.”
“Loyalty?” Elena let out a bitter, desperate laugh. “Daria doesn't know the meaning of the word loyalty. She views everyone as pawns to be sacrificed when the board gets too hot. I have a family, Mr. Kincaid. I have a daughter in college. I’m not going to spend the next twenty years in a federal penitentiary taking the fall for a tyrant who would poison her own son if it protected her stock price.”
May you like
I slowly lowered the gun, keeping my eyes locked on Elena’s desperate face. I motioned with my head toward the interior of the suite.
“Bring it inside,” I said coldly. “Let’s see what else my mother kept hidden from the world.”
