Chapter 6 - The Web of DebtThe screen flickered, showing the black Navigator pulling away into the gray morning fog, carrying Maya and Leo’s mother toward an unknown destination.
Maya stared at the monitor, her hands gripping the edge of the marble counter so hard her knuckles turned pure white. "That's... that's the man who got out of the car. That's the man who took Mommy." She looked up at Victor, her voice shaking with a terrifying mix of hope and dread. "Do you know him? Is he a bad man?"
Victor’s jaw clenched so tight a muscle ticked violently in his cheek.
"He was my chief vice president," Victor said, his voice dropping into a register so cold it felt like absolute zero. "And he lied to me about everything."
The realization hit Victor with the force of a freight train. The embezzlement scheme involving the Hail Foundation wasn't just corporate greed. It was part of a massive, systematic land-grab operation. Senator Vance and Gerald Sterling had been systematically buying up low-income districts under the guise of 'urban renewal,' evicting families, and laundering the funds through offshore accounts.
And anyone who resisted—like Maya and Leo’s mother—was silenced, paid off, or quietly disposed of.
"Marcus," Victor spoke into his wrist communicator, his eyes never leaving the screen.
"Sir?"
"Find out where Gerald Sterling is right now. Not his office. Where is he hiding?"
"We're tracking his secondary phone ping, Mr. Hail. He’s currently at a private airstrip in Teterboro. Private charter booked for Zurich under an alias. He’s running."
Victor turned around, his eyes locking onto Maya. He knelt down so he was eye-level with her.
"Maya, listen to me very carefully," Victor said, his voice firm, steady, and utterly unwavering. "The man who took your mother is trying to run away. But he is not going to get away with it. I am going to find him, and I am going to bring your mother back."
Maya stared into his eyes, searching for any sign of a lie, any trace of the false promises adults had fed her all her life. Finding only iron resolve, she slowly nodded. "Bring her back. Please."
May you like
"Stay here with the doctor and the chef," Victor commanded, standing up and buttoning his suit jacket. "Lock the doors. Nobody gets in unless they have my voice print."
Ten minutes later, Victor Hail’s private helicopter lifted off from the roof of the Hail Tower, slicing through the storm clouds as it chased the sinking sun toward the New Jersey state line.
