CHAPTER 18: THE ESCAPE OF THE PATRIARCH
CHAPTER 18: THE ESCAPE OF THE PATRIARCH
The intercom system inside the concrete vault suddenly static-hissed to life.
A voice filled the narrow room—smooth, ancient, and entirely devoid of emotion.
Marcus Sterling.
“Evelyn, my girl, you have your grandfather’s stubbornness,” his voice purred through the speaker.
“But stubbornness doesn't protect you from a terminal asset collection.”
“The local sheriff’s office is thirty minutes away from this ridge.”
“My men will have that hatch open in five.”
Before I could answer, my phone vibrated violently in my pocket. A secure patch-call from Detective Vance at the downtown precinct.
I swiped the screen, pressing it to my ear. “Vance! We have a breach at the valley!”
“Evelyn, listen to me very carefully,” Vance’s voice barked through the static, sounding breathless and panicked.
“Your father is gone.”
My heart stopped. “What do you mean, gone?”
“He suffered a staged cardiac event during his medical transport transfer an hour ago,” Vance revealed.
“An armed security vehicle intercepted the ambulance on Route 9.”
“He’s escaped custody, Evelyn. And he’s heading north with Marcus Sterling’s extraction team.”
May you like
“He’s coming to the valley to reclaim the 1974 ledger himself.”
toward the light.
