Chapter 44 - The Signal in the Dark
My heart felt like it had been plunged into an ice bath. "If you so much as lay a finger on Caleb or those children—"
"I don't care about your son, Myrna," Vance interrupted coldly. "Nor do I care about Tori's miserable spawn. I care about the bonds. When your local sheriff raided the house, my men monitored the police band. They saw what the deputies carried out: Tori’s forged records, the bank files, the thumb drives. But they didn't bring out the canister. Which means you still have it. Or, more accurately, Arthur left the location with you."
I kept my expression completely flat. The ammunition canister was sitting beneath three feet of loose floorboards in the deep crawlspace under the root cellar, untouched by the deputies, who had focused entirely on Tori’s desktop and files. Vance’s people had watched the house, but they didn't have the courage to walk into an active crime scene under the eyes of the state police.
"Arthur gave me nothing," I lied steadily. "Whatever feud you had with my late husband died with him in the ground. Leave my family alone, Julian."
Vance smiled, a terrifyingly serene expression. "You always were the spine of that marriage, weren't you? Arthur was brilliant, but you were the one who held the boundaries. That’s why I came myself. In five hours, we land in Lisbon. You have a choice, Myrna."
He produced a sleek, titanium smartphone from his jacket, angling the darkened screen toward me.
"When we clear customs at Humberto Delgado, you will get into my car. You will make a phone call to your son. You will tell him exactly which floorboard to pry up, and my associates in Manchester will collect the metal canister. The moment the contents are verified, I will walk away. Caleb keeps the house, the children keep their father, and you can spend the rest of your days sipping port on the Tagus."
"And if I refuse?"
"If you refuse, an anonymous tip will reach the state prosecutor within ten minutes of our wheels touching the runway," Vance said softly. "A tip supported by fabricated wire transfers linking Caleb directly to Tori’s corporate embezzlements. Your son will be arrested before sunrise on felony conspiracy charges. The children will be placed in emergency state custody with Child Protective Services. And by the time the legal dust settles five years from now, their childhoods will be incinerated."
He patted the armrest twice, stood up, and looked down at me with absolute certainty.
"Enjoy the rest of the flight, Mrs. Hayes. Think about your family."
May you like
He walked back to seat 14A, leaving me alone in the dimness of the humming cabin.
***
