Chapter 3: The Table Turns
"You’re working for the Syndicate, aren't you?" Mia asked, her tone shifting from defensive to interrogative. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, encrypted thumb drive—something she had seen her mother hide in the loose floorboard earlier that day. "They sent you to get this. They sent you to kill us because this has the records of the money laundering."
Viktor stared at the drive. His mission was compromised. If he took the drive, he was a hero to the Syndicate. If he touched the girl, he was a marked man.
"How do you know that?" Viktor growled, trying to regain his composure.
"Because Daddy told me that if anything ever happened to Mommy, I was to hand this to the police," Mia said. "But he also told me that if someone like you came, I should offer you a choice."
"A choice?" Viktor sneered, though his hand shook.
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"The Syndicate thinks you failed," Mia said, referencing the frantic messages lighting up Viktor’s phone screen. "They’re listening. They know you’re in the room. They know you have the bat. If you walk out without finishing it, they’ll kill you for incompetence. If you help us, you disappear. I have a contact. My father’s contact."
Viktor looked at the phone. A text from his handler: Status? If the target isn't neutralized in 3 minutes, extraction is aborted. You’re on your own.
