Chapter 8 - The Last Trap
Maya was not kidnapped.
Not yet.
Dante’s men reached her apartment before Jared did.
But Jared had accomplished something almost as effective.
He had reminded Khloe that hiding would never end this.
Victor and Jared needed to be found.
Dante wanted Khloe inside the penthouse.
She refused.
“We tried hiding me.”
“It kept you alive.”
“It also kept them choosing the battlefield.”
Khloe placed the Evergreen ledger on the table.
“We choose it now.”
Paulie looked interested.
Dante did not.
“No.”
Khloe ignored him.
“Victor lost his money when the federal government froze Evergreen accounts. Jared lost access to his father. What do they still want?”
“The ledger,” Paulie said.
“Exactly.”
Dante shook his head.
“They know copies exist.”
“Copies prove crimes. The original proves ownership.”
She pointed toward a handwritten section her father had marked.
Bearer authorization.
Control codes for offshore accounts worth nearly eighty million dollars.
Victor needed the original ledger to access them.
Khloe smiled without humor.
“So we sell it.”
Dante understood.
“Auction.”
“Private auction.”
Paulie grinned.
“I like her.”
Dante glared.
“I increasingly don’t.”
They leaked information that Khloe intended to sell the original Evergreen ledger to an overseas buyer.
The meeting would occur at an abandoned waterfront hotel owned indirectly by Varga Maritime.
Every entrance would be monitored.
Federal agents agreed to stay nearby, provided Dante did not turn the operation into a massacre.
“No promises,” Paulie muttered.
On the night of the exchange, Khloe stood inside the hotel ballroom.
It had once hosted weddings.
Now plastic covered the chandeliers and rain hammered boarded windows.
Dante adjusted the microphone beneath her collar.
His fingers paused.
“If anything feels wrong, leave.”
“Everything feels wrong.”
“Then leave now.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
Khloe smiled faintly.
“You hate hearing that word.”
“From you? Constantly.”
She touched his hand.
“Trust me.”
His jaw tightened.
“I do.”
That was why he was afraid.
At midnight, Victor Kane arrived.
Alone.
At least apparently.
He was older than Khloe expected.
Silver hair.
Expensive coat.
Gentlemanly smile.
“You look like Thomas.”
Khloe’s composure almost broke.
“You killed him.”
Victor removed his gloves.
“Your father killed himself by becoming curious.”
Dante heard every word from the adjoining room.
Khloe imagined his restraint.
“Where’s Jared?”
“Recovering.”
“From his knee?”
Victor smiled.
“From humiliation.”
Khloe placed the ledger on a table.
“Money first.”
Victor laughed.
“You think this is a transaction?”
“No.”
Khloe stepped backward.
“I think it’s a confession.”
Victor’s smile vanished.
Federal agents entered.
So did Dante.
Victor did not reach for a gun.
Instead, he applauded.
“Very good.”
Something was wrong.
Dante saw it too.
Victor looked toward the ceiling.
“Did you really believe I came alone?”
An explosion shook the building.
Lights died.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Victor ran.
Dante grabbed Khloe.
They moved through darkness.
Emergency lights flickered red.
Paulie shouted through the radio.
“North exit compromised!”
Dante pushed Khloe into an old service corridor.
“Stay with me.”
A figure emerged.
Jared.
His face was bruised.
One leg braced.
Gun raised.
“Hello, Khloe.”
Dante stepped in front of her.
Jared smiled.
“That’s sweet.”
He fired.
Dante shoved Khloe aside.
The bullet struck the wall.
Dante returned fire.
Jared disappeared through a doorway.
Khloe noticed blood on Dante’s side.
“Your stitches.”
“I know.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“Later.”
They followed.
The corridor ended inside the abandoned kitchen.
Jared waited behind a steel counter.
He fired again.
Khloe ducked.
Dante’s gun clicked empty.
Jared heard it.
His smile widened.
He stepped forward.
“You took everything.”
Khloe looked around.
A fire extinguisher hung three feet away.
“You never had me.”
Jared’s face twisted.
“You belonged to me.”
That sentence erased the last trace of fear.
Khloe grabbed the extinguisher and swung.
It smashed into Jared’s injured knee.
He screamed and collapsed.
His gun slid away.
Dante kicked it across the floor.
Jared looked up.
For two years, Khloe had imagined this moment differently.
She had imagined revenge.
Instead, she felt nothing.
“You were right about one thing,” she said.
Jared glared.
“What?”
“I did need help.”
She looked at Dante.
“Just not yours.”
Federal agents stormed in.
Jared was arrested.
But Victor was gone.
Again.
Paulie entered moments later.
“He took a boat.”
Dante looked toward the waterfront.
Khloe shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
“My father’s ledger lists Victor’s emergency accounts and properties.”
She opened the ledger.
One location stood apart from the others.
An island property north of Seattle.
Dante recognized it.
“He’ll go there.”
“Why?”
“Because Salvatore built it.”
Khloe stared.
Dante continued.
“Victor isn’t running away.”
He looked toward the black water beyond the windows.
“He’s going to get Salvatore out.”
Paulie’s phone rang.
He answered.
Then slowly lowered it.
Dante knew before he spoke.
“What?”
Paulie looked sick.
“The federal convoy transporting Salvatore was attacked twenty minutes ago.”
Khloe’s heart sank.
“Is he alive?”
Paulie nodded.
“And free.”
Two fathers.
Two sons.
One island.
And enough money to disappear forever.
Dante picked up a fresh weapon.
Khloe grabbed his arm.
“Where are you going?”
“To finish this.”
“Not alone.”
“No.”
Khloe stared into his eyes.
“You said you trusted me.”
May you like
“I do.”
“Then prove it.”
