CHAPTER 18: THE ESCAPE OF THE PATRIARCH
CHAPTER 18: THE ESCAPE OF THE PATRIARCH
The intercom system inside the concrete vault suddenly static-hissed to life.
A voice filled the narrow roomâsmooth, ancient, and entirely devoid of emotion.
Marcus Sterling.
âEvelyn, my girl, you have your grandfatherâs stubbornness,â his voice purred through the speaker.
âBut stubbornness doesn't protect you from a terminal asset collection.â
âThe local sheriffâs office is thirty minutes away from this ridge.â
âMy men will have that hatch open in five.â
Before I could answer, my phone vibrated violently in my pocket. A secure patch-call from Detective Vance at the downtown precinct.
I swiped the screen, pressing it to my ear. âVance! We have a breach at the valley!â
âEvelyn, listen to me very carefully,â Vanceâs voice barked through the static, sounding breathless and panicked.
âYour father is gone.â
My heart stopped. âWhat do you mean, gone?â
âHe suffered a staged cardiac event during his medical transport transfer an hour ago,â Vance revealed.
âAn armed security vehicle intercepted the ambulance on Route 9.â
âHeâs escaped custody, Evelyn. And heâs heading north with Marcus Sterlingâs extraction team.â
May you like
âHeâs coming to the valley to reclaim the 1974 ledger himself.â
toward the light.
