Chapter 5 - Crossing the Border
Entering Canada under federal surveillance required a level of tradecraft Megan hadn't used since her days before the Boston betrayal. Leo provided them with high-quality forged diplomatic passports, utilizing a defunct cultural exchange program between the US and Canadian agricultural departments. Clara was registered as their biological daughter under the aliases of Julian and Sarah Vance.
They crossed via the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron. The border guard looked at Dominic’s scarred face, then at the sleeping baby in the backseat, his eyebrows raising slightly.
"Business or pleasure, Mr. Vance?" the guard asked.
"Business," Dominic replied, his voice smooth, though his right hand was resting on the grip of a compact pistol hidden beneath the center console. "Looking at some machinery options in Ontario."
The guard stamped their passports and waved them through. Megan let out a breath she felt she had been holding for days.
They arrived in Toronto under a gray, drizzling sky. The city was a stark contrast to the peaceful orchards of Michigan—a jungle of glass, steel, and concrete that smelled of exhaust and corporate greed. They checked into a high-end apartment hotel near the Financial District, using the anonymity of the luxury complex to mask their movements.
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Megan immediately went to work mapping the security grid of Vanguard Helix’s headquarters on Bay Street. The building was an architectural marvel, seventy stories of reinforced glass with state-of-the-art biometric security. The board of directors met every Thursday afternoon on the top floor to review global operations.
"The CEO is a man named Alistair Vance—no relation to our aliases," Megan explained, showing Dominic the corporate hierarchy on her screen. "He’s an old-school financier with a taste for blood. He ordered the hit on our farm. He doesn't believe in loose ends."
