Chapter 13 - The Trap
Eric remained missing.
Investigators believed he was still in the region.
Agent Chen wanted him communicating.
That required bait.
Gloria provided it.
Under supervision, she sent Eric a message.
Rachel is ready to sign.
Need original plan restored.
No response came for twenty minutes.
Then Eric replied.
Tomorrow.
Same place.
Bring documents.
The “same place” was an abandoned storage facility outside town.
Gloria claimed she had met Eric there twice.
Federal agents prepared surveillance.
Daniel wanted to participate.
Colonel Whitmore refused.
“You are not an investigator.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I’m the target.”
“Exactly.”
I expected Daniel to argue.
Instead, he looked at me.
“Rachel stays out too.”
I smiled slightly.
“That wasn’t your decision.”
“Rachel.”
Agent Chen interrupted.
“Neither of you is going.”
That settled it.
We remained in a secure command room while agents moved into position.
Cameras showed the storage facility from several angles.
Gloria arrived wearing a wire.
Her hands trembled.
For the first time in my life, my mother looked small.
A black SUV appeared eight minutes later.
Eric stepped out.
I recognized him from the photograph.
He wore a baseball cap and dark jacket.
Nothing about him looked extraordinary.
That disturbed me.
People expect evil to announce itself.
Usually it looks like someone waiting in line at a bank.
Gloria approached him.
“You scared Mark.”
Eric laughed.
“Mark scares easy.”
“You said nobody would get hurt.”
Eric stopped.
“You said that.”
Gloria swallowed.
“I never agreed to kill Daniel.”
Daniel stared at the monitor.
Eric stepped closer.
“You agreed to solve your debt.”
“That’s different.”
“No.”
“That’s expensive.”
Agent Chen leaned toward the audio feed.
Gloria continued.
“Rachel will sign.”
Eric shook his head.
“She won’t.”
“You don’t know her.”
“I watched her for six weeks.”
My skin crawled.
Eric continued.
“She notices things.”
“She keeps records.”
“She was never signing voluntarily.”
Gloria whispered,
“Then what were you planning?”
Eric smiled.
“Same thing we discussed.”
Daniel stood.
Agent Chen motioned for him to remain still.
On screen, Gloria’s face drained of color.
“I never said kill him.”
Eric looked almost amused.
“You said you needed your daughter desperate, isolated, and financially ruined.”
“You said Daniel was the only person she trusted.”
“You asked me how much it would cost to make sure he didn’t come home.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
I could not move.
My own mother had asked the price.
Maybe she had avoided the word kill.
Maybe that was how she slept.
But the meaning was unmistakable.
Gloria stepped backward.
Eric noticed something.
His eyes dropped toward her collar.
The wire.
His expression changed.
He grabbed her.
Agents moved.
The screen erupted into motion.
Gloria screamed.
Eric ran toward the SUV.
Then a gunshot cracked through the audio.
May you like
Daniel grabbed my hand.
And the screen went black.
