Chapter 14
Marcus moved with blinding speed, pulling his sidearm and firing a flash-bang round directly at the pavement between the marshals.
A deafening pop and a blinding burst of white light shattered the dark highway, disorienting the four officers.
“Get back in the car!” Marcus screamed, grabbing my arm and throwing me into the rear seat.
Charlotte leaped into the front passenger seat as our driver reversed the sedan at top speed.
The car spun 180 degrees on the wet asphalt, its tires smoking as we sped back down Route 15 in the opposite direction.
Behind us, red emergency lights flashed as the marshals sprinted back to their SUVs to give chase.
“My father set me up,” I gasped, my mind racing through every contract I had signed before leaving for London.
“He used my recovery period to forge my digital credentials,” I realized out loud.
“He didn't want Vault 9 opened to clear his name; he wanted it opened so the paper trail would point to me!”
Charlotte turned around in her seat, her face pale with horror.
“He knew you’d come back if Vanessa humiliated you in the lobby,” Charlotte whispered.
“The whole thing… Vanessa, the chain, the manager… it was all leaked to the press on purpose!”
“To create a public record that I was present at the resort when the funds vanished!”
I clutched my head in my hands, the sheer scale of the manipulation washing over me like ice water.
My father hadn't just abandoned me.
He had built a trap ten years in the making, using my pride, my resort, and my loyalty against me.
“Where do we go now?” Marcus asked, keeping his eyes on the rear window as headlight beams appeared behind us.
“We don't go to New Haven,” I said, pulling the silver flash drive from my pocket.
“We go to the one place my father thinks I’m too proud to return to.”
May you like
“Where?” Charlotte asked.
“Back to the resort,” I said. “To finish what Vanessa started.”
