Chapter 26 - The Bait
I picked up the manila envelope, my fingers sliding the thick paper open. Inside was a set of forged international passports, flight itineraries out of a private airstrip in Milwaukee, and a handwritten note scrawled in Viktor’s sharp, aggressive handwriting:
“One flash drive for three lives. Yours, the girl, and the unborn child. Meet me at midnight at the abandoned railway freight terminal off Cermak Road. Come alone.”
“It’s a trap,” Michael said immediately, walking over to look over my shoulder. “Cermak is an open kill zone. He’ll have snipers stationed on every crane within a half-mile radius.”
“Of course it’s a trap,” I replied calmly, tossing the note onto the table. “Viktor doesn't honor deals. He never has.”
“Then we don't go,” Elizabeth said firmly, her hand resting protectively over her stomach. “We take Rebecca’s car and head north toward Canada right now.”
“If we run, Viktor will hunt us for the rest of our lives,” I said, turning to face her. My voice was steady, brooking no argument. “Every time you hear a car engine outside, every time the baby cries in the middle of the night, you’ll be looking over your shoulder wondering when his bullet is coming. I built an empire in Chicago, Elizabeth. And I’m going to bury my enemies in it.”
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“Daniel is right,” Michael added, pulling a spare assault rifle from his duffel bag and checking the chamber. “If we hit him on our terms at Cermak, we turn his trap into his graveyard.”
Elizabeth stared at me, her dark eyes searching my face for any trace of doubt. Finding none, she let out a long, shuddering breath. “Just... don't you dare die on me, Daniel Carter. You still owe me twenty years of honest answers.”
