Chapter 7 - THE TRAP
The message arrived at 9:02 p.m.
COME ALONE.
A location followed.
An abandoned warehouse.
I knew it was a trap.
I went anyway.
Not because I wanted revenge.
Because I knew someone might get hurt if I didn't.
I entered the warehouse.
Marcus stood beneath a hanging light.
Dustin was beside him.
His face was bruised from the arrest.
He smiled.
“Welcome.”
I looked around.
“How many?”
Marcus laughed.
“You always were paranoid.”
“That's not an answer.”
“Enough.”
Then another voice came from behind me.
“It's been a long time.”
General Cole stepped into the light.
Older.
Silver-haired.
But his eyes were exactly the same.
“You.”
He smiled.
“You remember.”
“I never forgot.”
Cole nodded.
“You destroyed everything.”
“No.”
I stepped forward.
“You destroyed yourself.”
His expression hardened.
“You were always arrogant.”
“And you're still blaming everyone else.”
Marcus raised his weapon.
I didn't move.
Cole stared at me.
“I wanted you to suffer.”
“You hurt my daughter.”
“That was unfortunate.”
Those three words changed something inside me.
Not anger.
Clarity.
I looked at him.
“You're finished.”
He laughed.
“Do you know how many people work for me?”
“Enough.”
“How many people owe me favors?”
“Enough.”
“How many people can disappear a family?”
I looked directly into his eyes.
“Not enough.”
Then the warehouse doors opened.
Police flooded in.
Detective Bennett's voice rang through the building.
“Federal warrants! Drop everything!”
Marcus froze.
Cole turned pale.
Dustin looked at me.
“You called them.”
“No.”
He frowned.
I pointed to the ceiling.
“Someone else did.”
A camera.
Recording everything.
Ethan had installed it.
Cole looked up.
His face collapsed.
Every threat.
Every confession.
Every admission.
Recorded.
Detective Bennett stepped forward.
“General Cole, you're under arrest.”
Cole stared at me.
“This changes nothing.”
I walked closer.
“It changes everything.”
But as police took him away, Marcus whispered something.
“You still haven't found the second file.”
I stopped.
“What second file?”
He smiled.
Then Detective Bennett shouted:
“Mercer!”
I turned.
May you like
Her face had changed.
“Dustin escaped.”
