Chapter 64 - The Zurich Extraction
The encrypted uplink on my comm unit crackled to life the second I breached the outer perimeter tunnel and hit the damp air of the London docks.
"Emily, status," came Marcus’s gravelly voice over the frequency. In the background, I could hear the rhythmic clatter of heavy machine-gun fire and the whine of a helicopter turbine. "We breached the Zurich medical black-site. Perimeter security is neutralized, but you need to see this."
I climbed into the idling chase vehicle hidden beneath the railway arches, slamming the gear into drive. "Is Eleanor alive?"
A brief, heavy pause hung over the line.
"She’s alive," Marcus replied, his tone laden with something deeper than tactical stress. "The shooter at her head wasn't an assassin, Emily. He was her personal security contractor. Paid from an offshore dummy corporation registered under Arthur Sterling's old trust."
My knuckles turned white against the steering wheel as I merged into the midnight traffic along the Embankment. "What are you talking about?"
"She wasn't a hostage," Marcus said coldly. "The Chairman didn't kidnap her to leverage you. Eleanor orchestrated the staging herself. She traded your whereabouts in London to the Board in exchange for full immunity and an offshore settlement in the Caymans. She wanted you dead so the Board would default the estate’s inheritance directly back to her."
A hollow laugh escaped my lips, bitter and sharp as broken glass. Even now. Even after the collapse of their fortunes, after Arthur's ruin, after every drop of blood I had shed to survive their suffocating legacy, Eleanor was still bargaining with my life like an unwanted coat she could sell for pocket change.
"Put her on the line," I commanded.
A series of shuffles echoed through the speaker, followed by Eleanor’s trembling, indignant voice. "Emily? Emily, darling, listen to me! You don't understand the pressure they put on me! They were going to strip everything—the family name, the remaining trust funds! I had to protect what Arthur built!"
"Arthur built a torture chamber," I said, my voice eerily calm. "And you were the one who locked the doors."
May you like
"You owe us!" she screamed, dropping all pretenses of maternal remorse. "We gave you life! You were nothing before this family gave you purpose! You can't just throw me away!"
"Watch me," I said, and severed the connection.
