Chapter 9 - The Trap
Within forty-eight hours, the federal task force relocated both Mariana and me to a undisclosed safe house in Austin. But I knew safe houses were only temporary prisons. Dr. Vance had deep resources, and as long as he roamed free, Mariana would never truly be safe.
Sitting by Mariana’s bedside, watching her slowly gain her strength back, I made a decision.
"Mrs. Mendoza," Mariana whispered, reaching for my hand.
"You don't have to fight them alone."
"I brought Rodrigo into this world, Mariana," I said softly, kissing her forehead.
"I couldn't stop him from becoming a monster, but I can stop the monsters he served."
Using the satellite phone I had secretly kept from the crime scene, I bypassed the federal agents and sent a direct encrypted message to the last number in the call log:
"I have the ledger. I have the complete list of your buyers and offshore accounts. Meet me at the abandoned clinic on Route 9, or the file goes live to every major news network in two hours."
Ten minutes later, the reply came back:
May you like
"Come alone. If I see a single federal badge, your daughter-in-law dies before you reach the front gate."
I slipped out through the safe house's service door into the rainy night, holding the ledger close to my chest.
