Chapter 5 - The Trap in the Woods-5
The glare of the searchlight was blinding, reflecting off the damp cedar walls of the treehouse like a wall of solid white fire.
My heart slammed against my ribs, but the paralyzing fear that had controlled me for eighteen months was gone. In its place was a cold, razor-sharp focus. I slid the silver flash drive and Tyler’s letter deep inside the inner zippered pocket of my coat, zipping it tight against my chest.
"I said get down here now!" the voice bellowed again from below.
Through the gaps in the floorboards, I saw two tall figures dressed in black tactical coats, holding high-powered flashlights and handguns. They were private security contractors from Apex Risk Management—the private security firm Harrison kept on a permanent retainer.
Suddenly, a low, muffled thud echoed through the trees fifty feet behind them, followed instantly by the sound of a heavy body collapsing into the wet brush.
The second security guard snapped around, lowering his light toward the dark pine thicket. "Vince? Is that you?"
Silence.
Before the remaining guard could raise his sidearm, Arthur Pendelton stepped smoothly out of the shadow of a massive cedar tree behind him. In Arthur’s right hand was a heavy, high-voltage tactical stun device. With a single, swift motion, Arthur drove the contact prongs straight into the guard’s shoulder pylon.
ZZZZ-CRACK.
A bright blue arc of electrical fire illuminated the fog. The guard let out a sharp, choked gasp, his knees buckling instantly as he hit the wet earth like a fallen log.
Arthur picked up the guard’s dropped flashlight, switched it off, and looked up toward the hatch.
"Evelyn," Arthur called out in a low, urgent whisper. "Move! We have less than three minutes before their automated check-in transponder triggers an alert with their main dispatch!"
I scrambled down the wooden ladder, my boots hitting the soft ground. I looked at Arthur, who was calmly adjusting his wool coat, holding the heavy stun device at his side like a man who had done this a hundred times before.
"Where did you learn to do that?" I gasped, staring at the two unconscious security guards on the ground.
"I spent six years working compliance enforcement for the Department of Justice in South America before I opened my private practice in D.C., Evelyn," Arthur said with a faint, grim smile. "Corporate lawyers aren't the only ones who know how to handle a field asset. Did you get the drive?"
"I have it," I said, holding my hand over my heart where the silver drive rested. "It contains everything: the wire logs, the offshore registries, and the video proof that Harrison bribed Judge Miller’s clerk in Richmond."
Arthur’s eyes narrowed into sharp, dangerous slits beneath his silver brows. "He bribed the judicial clerk?"
"Yes," I said. "That’s how Harrison knew every motion we filed three days before our court dates. That’s how he manipulated the family court schedule."
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Arthur pulled out his encrypted satellite phone, tapping a speed-dial key as we sprinted back through the woods toward the dark SUV parked on the turnout.
"Agent Harris," Arthur spoke into the phone, his baritone voice ringing with absolute, lethal authority. "Initialize the federal task force. We have the physical master drive and the primary bribery logs. Issue an emergency Interpol red notice for Harrison Vance and execute a total freeze order on the Zurich-Cyprus clearing matrix immediately."
