Chapter 6: The Burner Rings Again
Chapter 6: The Burner Rings Again
Speeding down the treacherous, winding coastal highway, Eleanor kept one eye locked on the rearview mirror and the other scanning the dark, rain-slicked road ahead. The V6 engine roared as she pushed the sedan to its limits. Suddenly, the burner phone buzzed wildly on the passenger seat.
"I told you not to deviate!" Vargas roared through the speaker. Behind his voice, the muffled, agonizing sound of a child crying—little Tommy—echoed in the background. "My men at the tracker’s location just went offline. You think you're clever, old woman? I'll put a bullet in your daughter's leg right now!"
"I think your men are deeply incompetent," Eleanor replied, her voice forged from cold steel, betraying zero emotion. "And as for your tracker, it is currently attached to the mudflap of an eighteen-wheeler hauling freight down south to Florida. I found the magnetic node on the back of the case casing."
Complete silence fell on the other end of the line. Vargas was calculating.
"Listen to me very carefully, Vargas, because I will only say this once," Eleanor continued, effortlessly dictating the terms of engagement. "If you harm a single hair on my grandchildren's heads, if you so much as raise your voice to my daughter again, I will not only thermite the hard drives, but I will make sure the rival factions in Juarez know exactly where you lost them. You want the bonds? You want your life? You play by my rules."
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"Where?" Vargas seethed, his false bravado entirely stripped away.
"The old Blackwood Marine Shipyard. Exactly fifty miles up the coast from your current location. You bring my family. You come alone with your crew. You have exactly two hours, and if I see flashing police lights, the deal is off." She snapped the phone shut, popped the back cover, and snapped the SIM card in half, tossing the pieces out the window into the driving rain.
