Chapter 5 - Fire on the South Side"Where are you right now, Michael?" I demanded, standing up from the edge of the bed, my mind racing through tactical scenarios with the cold, brutal precision of a man who had survived two decades in the Chicago underworld.
"I'm forty blocks away, heading toward the South Side depot to salvage what’s left of the manifest backups," Michael shouted over the roar of a V8 engine. "Boss, you need to get out of the city. The feds have a warrant out for your arrest as well. Your name is on the primary indictment."
"Did you secure the Zurich server?" I asked sharply, testing him.
A fraction of a second too late, Michael hesitated. "Uh—yeah, boss. I grabbed the hard drives before the feds breached the lower level. I'm bringing them to you now."
It was a lie.
Michael hadn't grabbed the hard drives. If he had, his voice wouldn't have pitched up that microscopic octave, and he wouldn't have paused before answering. The Zurich server wasn't seized by the feds because of a lucky tip; Michael had sold it to Julian Vance, cutting his own parachute before the ship went down.
"Where should we meet, Michael?" I asked, keeping my voice completely level, completely trusting.
"Meet me at the old dry dock off Route 41," Michael said quickly. "The abandoned one behind the steel mill. It’s secure. Bring the files from the house, and we’ll figure out our next move."
"I'll be there in twenty minutes," I said.
I hung up the phone.
I turned back toward the bed. Claire was watching me with an intensity that cut straight through the adrenaline pumping through my veins.
"You know, don't you?" she asked softly.
"Michael sold us out," I said, sliding my phone back into my pocket and reaching for the heavy Sig Sauer pistol tucked inside my shoulder holster. "He’s been working with Julian Vance for the past six months. The feds didn't stumble onto the downtown office; Michael gave them the master keys."
Claire tried to sit up, her face draining of color. "Daniel, don't go to the dry dock. It's a trap. If Michael sold you to Vance, there's a sniper waiting in those shipping containers."
"I know it's a trap," I said, walking over to the side of the bed and leaning down. I cupped her face in my hand, my thumb brushing her cheek. For the first time in our marriage, there were no secrets between us—no masks, no hidden agendas. Just two people standing on the edge of an abyss. "If I don't go, Michael and Vance will hunt us down. They won't stop until every trace of the Carter and Moretti names are wiped off the map."
"Then we run," Claire said, her eyes filling with tears. "We take the car, we cross the state line—"
"No," I interrupted gently, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "This ends tonight. Not for my father's empire. Not for the money. For her."
I gestured to her stomach.
"I am not letting anyone take her future away."
Before she could argue, I pulled the keys to my SUV off the dresser and tossed them onto the bed. "There's a burner phone in the glove box. Dial number one when you're three miles out of the city. A trusted friend of mine—Father Thomas at St. Jude's parish—will take you in. Stay there until I call."
"Daniel—"
May you like
"Promise me, Claire," I commanded, my voice brooking no argument.
She looked at me, her chest heaving with silent sobs, before she finally nodded. "Be careful."
