Chapter 6 - The Coldest Voice
My breath hitched, but I forced every shred of panic back down into my gut. I kept my voice low, imitating the quiet, clipped tone Emily used when she was stressed.
"Emily isn't here," I said, cold and deadly.
A long, deafening pause settled over the line. For five agonizing seconds, all I could hear was the faint sound of harbor gulls and the rumble of a diesel engine idling in the background.
Then came a low, mocking chuckle. Marcus.
"David," he purred smoothly, entirely unfazed. "I must congratulate you. I honestly thought you were too blinded by your corporate spreadsheets to notice the little girl slipping away. You showed more backbone than I gave you credit for."
"Where are you, you coward?" I hissed, gripping the phone so hard the plastic casing creaked. "If you ever come within a mile of Lily again, I will tear you apart with my bare hands."
"Touchy, touchy," Marcus laughed, his voice dripping with condescension. "You think you won because your lovely wife is sitting in a holding cell? Emily was an amateur. She got sloppy, let her temper flare up, left marks. I told her that bruises raise questions, but she never could control her frustration with that brat."
Hearing him call my little girl a brat ignited a fire in my skull. "The police have your name, your face, and your crypto wallets. You're finished, Marcus."
"Am I?" Marcus replied casually. "Check your bank balances, David. You’ll find that every corporate account tied to your name has been flagged for money laundering. By tomorrow morning, the FBI won't be hunting me—they’ll be freezing your assets and questioning your role in international fraud. Emily took the fall, but she left a paper trail that points straight at your desk."
My stomach dropped. I realized instantly what they had done. Emily had access to my digital signatures and financial tokens.
"And as for your daughter," Marcus continued, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper, "she knows things she doesn't even realize she knows. She saw the ledger in the study. She knows the passcode to the vault key. And I can’t leave loose ends walking around. Hug her tight tonight, David. It might be your last chance."
*Click.*
The line went dead.
I bolted out of my chair and rushed to Lily’s room. She was still fast asleep, clutching her teddy bear. Officer Harris stood outside the doorway, resting a hand on his holster as he saw the terror on my face.
"Mr. Evans? What happened?"
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"Call Miller," I panted, my heart hammering against my ribs like a caged beast. "Marcus isn't fleeing the country. He’s framing me, and he’s coming for Lily."
***