Chapter 5 - The Homecoming Trap
“Lights out!” I hissed, grabbing Agent Vance by the arm and dragging him behind the living room sofa. Officer Bell moved silently to the opposite side of the entryway, sliding into the shadow of the kitchen archway.
The front door clicked open. Heavy footsteps echoed across the hardwood floor.
“Hannah?” a voice called out into the dark. It was Derek. His voice sounded frantic, ragged, stripped of the bravado he’d had on the phone earlier. “Hannah, I know you’re here. Don't listen to the feds. They’ll kill us both if you don't give me the drive!”
I crouched behind the sofa, my hand steady on my weapon. The air grew thick with tension.
“Derek is unarmed,” Agent Vance whispered softly in my ear, his breath warm against my neck. “He’s a courier for them, not an operator. Take him alive, and we can track the handlers.”
“Stay out of my way,” I whispered back.
Footsteps approached the living room. The silhouette of a man loomed in the archway, his frame trembling as he fumbled with something in his jacket pocket. A small pen flashlight clicked on, cutting a weak beam across the ruined floorboards.
“Hannah... please,” Derek whimpered, shining the light toward the empty kitchen. “They have Lily.”
My blood turned to ice water.
I stood up from behind the sofa, stepping directly into the beam of his flashlight. Derek gasped, stumbling backward against the wall, dropping his light.
“Lily is safe at the hospital, Derek,” I said, my voice cutting through the dark like a blade. “And you are going to tell me every single person involved in this, or I swear to God, the federal agents in this room won't be able to protect you from me.”
Derek stared at me, his eyes wide with absolute terror. But it wasn't fear of me that made his knees buckle.
May you like
A red laser dot flickered across the center of Derek’s chest.
Before I could shout a warning, the front window shattered inward in a shower of glass, and a silenced gunshot cracked through the night air. Derek let out a sharp gasp, his eyes locking onto mine with an unspoken plea before his legs gave out completely, and he collapsed face-first onto the floor.
