Chapter 16 - The Trap is Set
Sloane was a terrible actress, but desperation was a fantastic motivator.
For the next two weeks, she seamlessly integrated herself back into Derek’s pathetic, drunken life.
She fed him the carefully crafted lies that Julian and I had explicitly designed to bait the trap.
She told Derek that Julian was leaving on an emergency business trip to London.
She told him that I would be staying alone at a private, secluded beach house in the Hamptons.
And most importantly, she told him that I possessed the sole, physical USB drive containing the evidence of Marcus’s embezzlement.
Derek swallowed the bait completely whole, completely blinded by his insatiable greed and desire for revenge.
On a cold Friday night, I sat alone in the massive living room of the Hamptons estate.
The wind was howling violently outside, masking the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shoreline.
I was not alone, of course.
Elias and a dozen heavily armed, elite security contractors were hidden entirely within the shadows of the property.
Julian was situated in the tactical command center hidden in the basement, watching the perimeter cameras with lethal intensity.
At exactly midnight, the security alarms silently triggered on Julian’s monitors.
"They are here," Julian’s voice cracked through the small earpiece hidden in my hair.
"Stay exactly where you are, Elena, and do not move a single muscle."
I sat perfectly still on the velvet sofa, a crystal glass of water resting in my remarkably steady hands.
The heavy glass door of the patio shattered loudly, raining shards of jagged glass across the hardwood floor.
Derek stepped into the room, holding a heavy, black handgun with shaking fingers.
He looked wild, completely deranged, and entirely desperate.
"Hello, Elena," Derek sneered, pointing the trembling weapon directly at my chest.
"I believe you have something that belongs to my new boss."
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I did not flinch, nor did I break my completely calm, condescending eye contact.
"You always were incredibly predictable, Derek," I sighed softly.
