Chapter 36 - The Ghost Frequency
The fire in the stove crackled low, casting long, wavering shadows across the timber walls. Outside, the blizzard screamed through the pines, covering their tracks in a shroud of white silence. For the moment, they were invisible.
Leo suddenly tapped the screen of his handheld device. "Dad. Look at this."
Daniel stood up and moved to his son’s side. The device was displaying an active radio frequency that was cycling through encrypted Swiss civil defense channels.
"Where is that signal coming from?" Daniel asked.
"It’s bouncing off the repeater tower at the crest of the pass," Leo said, his fingers flying across the makeshift keyboard. "It’s Arthur’s command relay. But it’s not searching for us. It’s broadcasting an emergency order to the Federal Police in Bern."
Julian cursed under his breath, leaning over Leo's shoulder. "He’s declared a red notice. Daniel Sterling is wanted for the armed kidnapping of an infant, the assassination of private security personnel, and high treason. He’s locked down the entire border sector. No trains, no flights, no highway crossings."
"He thinks he has us trapped in the valley," Daniel said, his mind calculating lines of escape with icy detachment. "He assumes we’ll try to head west toward France or south into Italy."
"We can't survive in these mountains on foot," Evelyn said, clutching her shivering shoulders. "The baby won't last another twenty-four hours without proper medical care. She needs an incubator, formula, warmth."
Daniel looked down at his newborn daughter. Her face was serene in sleep, unaware that she was the linchpin of a multi-billion-dollar war between blood and greed.
"We aren't going to France, and we aren't going to Italy," Daniel said, his voice hardening like tempered steel.
Julian frowned. "Then where the hell are we going, Daniel?"
"We’re going to the one place Arthur Sterling believes is completely invulnerable," Daniel replied, meeting Julian’s gaze. "We’re going to the Grand Manor at Lake Lucerne."
May you like
Julian stared at him as if he had lost his mind. "Lucerne? Arthur has turned that estate into a fortress. Private military contractors, biometric perimeter walls, radar nets. It’s his stronghold!"
"Exactly," Daniel said. "It’s where he is holding the second boy. It’s where the probate lawyers and the international magistrates will gather on Friday morning to verify the heirs. Arthur expects me to run like a wounded animal into the wilderness. Instead, we’re going to walk right through his front gates."
