Chapter 5 - THE BLACK SUV
“Move!”
Adrian grabbed Grace and pulled her behind a parked van.
The black SUV jumped the curb.
Metal screamed.
A newspaper box exploded beneath the front bumper.
Grace gasped.
The SUV missed them by less than three feet.
“Run!”
They sprinted into an alley.
Grace struggled to breathe.
Adrian grabbed her hand.
“This way.”
“How do you know—”
“Just move!”
The SUV reversed.
Tires shrieked.
One of the men jumped out.
“There!”
Adrian pulled Grace through the back entrance of a grocery store.
They pushed past stacked boxes.
A clerk shouted.
Grace looked over her shoulder.
The man entered behind them.
Adrian led her through the front.
They crossed traffic as horns blasted.
Grace nearly fell.
He caught her.
For an old starving beggar, Adrian moved remarkably fast.
Grace noticed.
“How are you doing this?”
“Adrenaline.”
“That’s not adrenaline!”
They disappeared inside a church two blocks away.
Grace collapsed onto a wooden pew.
Adrian stayed by the window.
The SUV passed.
Then again.
Finally, it vanished.
Grace stared at him.
“You don’t move like a homeless man.”
Adrian turned.
“I was homeless once.”
It was technically true.
At nineteen, after his father’s bankruptcy, Adrian had slept in his car for six weeks.
Grace studied him.
“Who are you really?”
“A man trying to help.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
Grace stood.
“I’m done.”
“Done with what?”
“This.”
She gestured toward him.
“The mansion. Victor. All of it.”
“My mother almost died yesterday. Now someone’s trying to run me over because I saw numbers on a piece of paper.”
Adrian’s voice softened.
“Where is the copy?”
Grace’s expression hardened.
“You care a lot about that copy.”
“Because someone nearly killed you for it.”
“Exactly.”
She headed toward the door.
Adrian said, “Grace.”
She stopped.
“How do you know my name?”
He realized his mistake.
Grace slowly turned.
“You never asked.”
Adrian said nothing.
Her eyes narrowed.
“You were listening at the gate.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
She backed away.
“You knew Victor’s name too.”
Adrian stayed calm.
“His badge.”
“You knew Benton’s name.”
Adrian had no explanation.
Grace took another step back.
“Who are you?”
Before Adrian could answer, his prepaid phone rang.
Malcolm.
He answered.
“What?”
Malcolm sounded panicked.
“You need to get back here.”
“Why?”
“Charles Benton just announced that you’re missing.”
Adrian frowned.
“I am missing.”
“No. He’s telling the board you may be dead.”
Adrian’s face went still.
Malcolm continued.
“And there’s something else.”
“What?”
“The foundation transfers Grace saw?”
“Yes.”
“They total forty-eight million dollars.”
Grace heard the number.
Her mouth opened.
Adrian asked, “Who received it?”
Malcolm answered.
“A shell company controlled by Charles Benton.”
Then he lowered his voice.
“But Benton isn’t the person authorizing the transfers.”
“Who is?”
Malcolm said the name.
May you like
And for the first time since this began, Adrian looked genuinely shocked.
“Your sister.”
