Chapter 10 - REBECCA'S CHOICE
The call was traced to a prepaid phone.
Rebecca sounded different.
No arrogance.
No polished confidence.
She sounded terrified.
“Grant has lost control.”
I listened from the command room.
Federal agents recorded everything.
Rebecca continued.
“He knows the ledger is gone.”
“Where is he?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Then we're finished.”
“No!”
Her breathing became ragged.
“He'll kill me.”
“You abandoned two five-year-old children.”
“I was trying to leave!”
“Exactly.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Silence.
Finally, she did.
Grant had been stealing money for years.
Rebecca helped hide it.
Then she married Ethan.
At first, Grant wanted information.
Ethan worked around procurement systems Grant needed access to.
But Ethan discovered the fraud.
Everything changed.
“Did you help kill him?”
Rebecca started crying.
“I didn't know Grant was going to do it.”
“Lily heard you say, ‘Not here.’”
Silence.
That silence answered the question.
“I was scared.”
“So was Ethan.”
“I loved him.”
“No.”
I looked through the glass at Lily and Owen.
“You loved what he gave you.”
Rebecca's voice hardened.
“You think you're better than me?”
“This isn't about me.”
“You want those children.”
“I want them safe.”
“You're not their father.”
That landed harder than I expected.
Because she was right.
I wasn't.
Their father was dead.
And no amount of protection would change that.
Then Rebecca whispered,
“Grant is going after Ruth tonight.”
Agents moved immediately.
Ruth was relocated.
Rebecca agreed to surrender in exchange for protection.
But Grant anticipated it.
He intercepted her before federal agents arrived.
The last signal from Rebecca's phone came from an industrial district near the Chicago River.
Then it vanished.
Marco looked at me.
“He's cornered.”
“No.”
I knew men like Grant.
“Cornered men surrender when they still believe tomorrow exists.”
May you like
“What does Grant believe?”
“That everything ends tonight.”
