Chapter 3 - The Secret Inside the Bear
Alexander picked up the damp teddy bear. Lily’s eyes followed his movements with terrifying intensity for a six-year-old child.
"Mommy said..." Lily whimpered, her voice raspy, "... Never give the bear to anyone, even you, unless Mommy didn't come back for a long time. She said the magic key is inside Mr. Fluffy’s heart."
Marcus immediately drew a combat knife, but Alexander held up a hand. "No. Gently."
Using a pair of medical shears from the tray, Alexander carefully snipped the seams along the back of the stuffed animal. He pulled back the cotton stuffing. Deep inside the chest cavity, wrapped in heavy, vacuum-sealed lead foil, was a sleek, silver hardware flash drive and a tiny brass key with intricate micro-engravings.
"A encrypted cold-storage drive," Marcus murmured, stepping closer. "And a key to a Swiss safety deposit box."
"Evelyn knew," Alexander realized, his voice trembling with a mix of awe and heartbreak. "She knew they were coming for her. She didn't die in an accident... she was murdered because of what is on this drive."
Before Marcus could bring out a secure laptop to decode the drive, the emergency alarms of the hospital suddenly began to blare. Red warning lights flashed across the room.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"Power failure in Sector 4," a voice boomed over the intercom. "Backup generators initiating..."
Click.
The lights killed completely. The room was plunged into pitch-black darkness, save for the pale moonlight filtering through the window.
"Boss, protect the girl!" Marcus barked, pulling his suppressed sidearm and stepping in front of the bed.
THUD.
The heavy reinforced door of Room 402 was kicked open from the outside. Two shadows dropped the guards in the hallway with muffled gunshots before swinging into the room. Red laser sights swept across the walls, settling directly on Alexander’s chest.
"Alexander Vance," a voice rasped through a tactical radio scrambler. "Hand over the child and the drive, or the girl dies first."
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In the dim light, Alexander saw the tattoo on the lead gunman’s hand: a serpent coiled around a silver dagger.
They hadn't just come to cover up Victoria's tracks. They had come to wipe out the entire Vance bloodline.
