Chapter 6 - The Waitress Who Walked Into the Council
Rachel wanted to surrender everything.
Caleb refused.
“If we give Russell Daniel, he kills Daniel and keeps Lucy.”
“Then what do we do?”
“We make him believe he has already won.”
The council met inside an old private hotel on Michigan Avenue.
Russell expected Caleb's allies to surrender.
Instead, Rachel Brennan walked through the front doors wearing her waitress uniform.
Every man in the room stared.
Russell smiled.
“Well.”
Rachel carried a serving tray.
“You always said staff should know their place.”
Russell leaned back.
“And apparently you forgot yours.”
Rachel placed a folder before him.
“Actually, I found it.”
Russell opened the folder.
Bank statements.
Shell corporations.
Payments.
Kidnapping expenses.
Bribes.
Rachel had reconstructed 9 years of theft.
The room changed.
Victor Hale stood.
“This meeting is over.”
“No,” Rachel said.
Victor stared at her.
Nobody spoke to him that way.
Especially not a waitress.
Rachel removed a flash drive from her apron.
“You received $18.4 million through 3 offshore companies.”
Marcus entered.
Victor's face changed.
“Brother.”
Marcus looked devastated.
“Tell me she’s wrong.”
Victor said nothing.
Then Daniel Marsh entered.
Gasps moved through the room.
Russell stood.
Impossible became visible on his face.
Daniel walked slowly, leaning on a cane.
“Hello, Russell.”
Russell reached inside his jacket.
Three council guards raised weapons toward him.
Daniel smiled without warmth.
“You spent 9 years telling everyone I was dead. That's difficult to explain when the corpse walks in.”
Russell recovered quickly.
“Caleb kidnapped him.”
A voice came from behind the room.
“Did I?”
Caleb stepped into the light.
Silence.
Russell looked as though he had seen a ghost.
Caleb wore a black suit.
No visible weapon.
No weakness.
He walked toward the table.
“You should have used more poison.”
Russell's smile disappeared.
Rachel's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Lucy.
Bound to a chair.
Rachel's face changed.
Russell noticed.
He smiled.
“Rachel.”
Caleb understood instantly.
Russell had a second plan.
The council was merely theater.
Lucy was the real leverage.
Russell whispered an address.
“Come alone.”
Rachel left before Caleb could stop her.
She took a cab to an abandoned laundry facility.
Inside, Lucy sat under a hanging light.
“Rachel!”
Rachel ran toward her.
Russell emerged.
He had escaped through a service exit.
Victor stood beside him.
Russell raised a gun.
“Stop.”
Rachel froze.
“Let her go.”
“You really are predictable.”
“She's 7.”
“And worth billions.”
Russell demanded Daniel's trust authorization codes.
Rachel laughed.
Russell frowned.
“What?”
“You think I know them?”
“You understand the accounts.”
“I understand enough to know you've already lost.”
Russell struck her.
Rachel fell.
Lucy screamed.
Russell grabbed Rachel by the hair.
“Where is Caleb?”
Rachel tasted blood.
“Behind you.”
Russell laughed.
Then a voice answered.
“She wasn't lying.”
Caleb stepped from the darkness.
Russell spun.
Gunfire exploded.
Rachel threw herself over Lucy.
Victor fired toward Caleb.
Marcus appeared from the opposite entrance and shot the weapon from Victor's hand.
Russell fled upstairs.
Caleb followed.
Rachel untied Lucy.
“Close your eyes.”
“I’m scared.”
“So am I.”
The honesty calmed her more than a lie.
Upstairs, Caleb cornered Russell beside a broken window.
Russell smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
“Understand what?”
“Daniel wasn't the only person who betrayed you.”
Russell tossed a photograph onto the floor.
Caleb looked down.
It showed Daniel meeting Victor years before his disappearance.
“You think your brother was innocent?”
Daniel appeared behind Caleb.
His face went white.
Caleb turned.
“Tell me.”
Daniel said nothing.
“Tell me!”
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Daniel finally whispered:
“I helped Russell start it.”
