Chapter 7 - THE GHOST FROM THE PAST
"Viper-Seven-Actual, I have the maroon package and the black ledger," Ethan spoke into the burner phone with military precision.
A sharp intake of breath echoed through the receiver before Marcus Vance—Ethan's estranged older brother—spoke.
"Ethan? Where the hell are you? The Pentagon has a county-wide dragnet out for your entire family," Marcus hissed.
"They're tracking the digital signature on the drive Eldridge had in her handbag," Ethan explained rapidly.
"Eldridge? That double-crossing bureaucrat is working with the syndicate?" Marcus cursed loudly in the background.
"She was until I took her archive," Ethan replied, scanning the barn cracks for flashlights. "We need extraction to the West Virginia safehouse tonight."
"Listen to me very carefully, little brother," Marcus warned, his voice turning ice-cold. "Every major interstate between here and the Alleghenies is locked down by federal marshals."
"Then we take the old logging routes through the Appalachian foothills," Ethan insisted without hesitation.
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"Meet me at the rusted water tower outside Marietta in forty minutes," Marcus instructed. "And Ethan? Trust absolutely no one on the road."
The line clicked dead, leaving only the hum of static in the quiet darkness of the barn.
