Chapter 5 - Fractured Loyalties
The trap was sprung faster than anticipated. Two days after my confrontation with Evelyn, Marcus caught a tail on his vehicle—a black sedan belonging to Vanguard Security, Evelyn's private mercenary team.
We met in the basement parking garage of a deserted commercial complex. Marcus held a young man in a tactical jacket against the hood of a car. It was Thomas, one of my own mid-level security officers.
"He was planting a tracker on your personal vehicle, sir," Marcus said, his voice hard as iron. "He was feeding location logs directly to your mother's personal secretary."
I walked up to Thomas, looking down at the nervous young man. "How much is she paying you, Thomas?"
"Mr. Vance, please!" Thomas stammered, sweating despite the cold air. "She threatened my family! She said if I didn't report your movements, my father's medical coverage through the company would be revoked!"
I looked at Marcus, then back at the terrified officer. Evelyn used fear as her primary currency. It was her greatest strength, but also her fatal flaw; fear breeds compliance, but never true loyalty.
"I won't fire you, Thomas," I said quietly, leaning in close. "And I won't hurt your family. In fact, I will pay off your father's medical expenses in full tonight. But from this second forward, you work for me."
"Anything, sir! Anything!"
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"You will continue to report to my mother," I instructed him. "Every night, you will give her exact coordinates of my movements. But those coordinates will be carefully curated by Marcus. You will feed her the story of a man unspooling under stress, visiting old haunts, drowning in memory. Let her believe I am falling apart."
If Evelyn believed I was losing my mind to grief, she would drop her guard just long enough for me to strike at her core.
