Chapter 11 - Dead Man's Switch
Two years passed in blissful, uninterrupted quiet. The trust had been legally secured, my mother was locked in a federal medical prison with no possibility of release, and Elena’s foundation was changing hundreds of lives.
Until the night the storms hit Maine.
Gale-force winds battered our coastal cottage, knocking out the power grid across the county. As I was securing the storm shutters, my satellite phone vibrated with an encrypted military priority code.
"Lucas, it's Harris," the Colonel’s voice sounded muffled over the roaring wind outside.
"I'm calling from Texas. Ricardo is dead."
I paused, holding the flashlight steady.
"How?"
"A prison riot broke out in block C two hours ago," Harris explained grimly.
"Ricardo was stabbed. But before he died, he executed a dead-man's switch on a dark-web escrow account he set up months ago."
A knot tightened in my gut.
"What kind of switch?"
"A three-million-dollar bounty, Lucas," Harris whispered.
May you like
"He hired a rogue tactical team. Their target isn't you. It's Elena. And the contract activated the moment his heart stopped beating."
Before I could reply, the fuel lines to our backup generator outside were severed, and total darkness consumed the house.
