Chapter 3 - The First Move
By Thursday afternoon, the weather had cleared, leaving the city washed in bright, unforgiving sunlight.
I sat in the back of Gabriel’s armored Mercedes, dressed in a sharp charcoal-grey pantsuit Gabriel’s tailor had brought to the house that morning. My hair was pulled back into a sleek, professional knot, and my split lip was completely hidden under expensive nude lipstick.
Beside me, Gabriel was reviewing a stack of financial ledgers.
“Your father owned three commercial properties near the riverfront,” Gabriel explained without looking up from his papers. “Diane put them up as collateral for a two million dollar loan from Marcone’s shell corporation, Aegis Holdings. She missed her second payment yesterday.”
“Why would Marcone lend her two million dollars if he knew she was broke?” I asked.
“Because Marcone doesn't want the money, Nora,” Gabriel replied, turning a page. “He wants the riverfront property. It’s the only access point to the eastern shipping lanes that doesn't go through my checkpoints. If he forecloses on those deeds, he can run weapons and narcotics into the city without paying my tax.”
The Mercedes pulled up to the curb outside a lavish glass building downtown: The Grand Oak Financial Center.
“What are we doing here?” I asked, looking out the tinted window.
“Your stepsister Chloe works here as a junior loan administrator,” Gabriel said, closing his folder with a sharp snap. “Or rather, she pretends to work here while using the company system to run credit checks for Marcone’s loan sharks.”
My stomach tightened. “Are we going inside?”
Gabriel looked at me, his gray eyes steady and commanding. “You are going inside. With Leo.”
He pulled a thin silver flash drive from his vest pocket and placed it in my palm.
“This drive contains a worm program,” Gabriel instructed smoothly. “Plug it into the terminal at Chloe’s desk. It will duplicate every file she has accessed in the last six months and mirror it directly to my office server.”
“And if she catches me?”
Gabriel reached over, adjusting the lapel of my suit jacket with slow, deliberate fingers.
“Chloe hasn't seen you in four weeks, Nora,” he said, his voice dropping into a low baritone that vibrated straight through my chest. “She expects you to be broken, crying in a basement, or dead in a ditch. When you walk into that office looking like a woman who owns the building, she will be too terrified to ask questions.”
I took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the silver drive in my hand.
“Five minutes,” I said.
“I’ll be watching from the car,” Gabriel promised. “If anyone touches you, Leo will put a bullet through their knee.”
I opened the car door and stepped out onto the sunlit sidewalk.
The marble lobby of the Grand Oak Financial Center was quiet, filled with the soft hum of air conditioning and the rhythmic clicking of keyboards.
I rode the elevator up to the ninth floor. When the silver doors slid open, I saw my stepsister immediately.
Chloe was sitting at a corner cubicle, wearing a pink silk dress, gossiping on her headset while filing her nails. She looked completely untouched by the destruction she had helped cause—relaxed, pampered, and arrogant.
I walked straight past the reception desk, my heels clicking loudly against the hardwood floor.
Chloe looked up, her smug smile instantly freezing as her eyes landed on me.
“Nora?” she gasped, her hands shaking so hard her nail file clattered onto the desk. “What... how are you here?! You’re supposed to be—”
“Working?” I asked smoothly, leaning over her desk and placing both hands on her polished wood surface. “I am working, Chloe. In fact, I’m here on behalf of Vance & Costa Legal.”
Chloe’s face turned bright white. “Costa? As in... Gabriel Costa?”
“You know him?” I feigned pleasant surprise, leaning closer until I could smell her cheap vanilla perfume. “Fascinating. He mentioned your name yesterday during our morning audit.”
“An audit?” Chloe stammered, pulling off her headset with trembling fingers. “Nora, listen... Mom said you ran away! She said you took off with some guy from the casino!”
“Mom lies a lot, Chloe,” I whispered, my hand sliding discreetly behind her desk monitor, feeling for the USB port. “Like when she told the insurance company Dad died of natural causes.”
Chloe gasped, her eyes going wide with pure panic. “You... you can't be here! I’m calling security!”
She reached for her desk phone.
Before her fingers could touch the receiver, Leo stepped into the cubicle behind me. He was wearing a dark suit, his massive six-foot-four frame blocking the light, his hand resting casually inside his jacket where the imprint of a holster was clearly visible.
“Is there a problem, ma’am?” Leo asked in a deep, terrifyingly polite voice.
Chloe choked on her breath, pulling her hand back as if the phone had turned into a viper. “No... no problem.”
I clicked the silver drive into the USB port beneath her screen. A small blue light flickered on.
0%... 45%... 100% complete.
I pulled the drive out and slipped it into my pocket, all in less than three seconds.
I leaned down close to Chloe’s ear.
May you like
“Tell Diane that the interest on her debt isn't cleared,” I whispered softly. “Tell her Nora sends her regards.”
I turned on my heel and walked toward the elevators, leaving my stepsister trembling in her chair, gasping for air like a fish out of water.
