Chapter 5 - The Silent PartnerWe reached the fog-shrouded docks at 02:45 AM. The giant steel grain silo loomed over the black river waters like a silent monolith.
Jerry moved with tactical precision, keeping his nose low and body pressed against the rusty corrugated metal walls. He stopped at a small side security door, whining softly. The electronic keypad was dead, but the lock had been freshly picked.
We slipped inside. The air inside smelled of damp concrete, rust, and fresh gun oil.
"Ethan," a quiet voice called out from the darkness of the central floor.
I pulled out my flashlight, beam cutting through the dust particles. Standing in the ring of light was Marcus Vanceâmy fatherâs former attorney and the man who had guided me through the legal nightmare after my father vanished.
"Marcus?" I stepped back defensively, keeping Jerry by my side. "What are you doing here?"
"I've been waiting ten years for that couch to surface, Ethan," Marcus said, his voice devoid of the warmth he usually showed me. He raised a suppressed handgun, pointing it directly at my chest. "Your father was brilliant, but foolish. He thought he could outsmart the syndicate by hiding the master ledger in a piece of inventory marked for long-term vault storage."
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"You were the leak," I realized, the horrifying truth dawning on me. "You set my father up!"
"Set him up? Ethan, I ran the operation," Marcus sneered. "Your father was just the carpenter who built the Trojan horses."
