Chapter 10
The sheer magnitude of the crimes documented on the small digital tablet was paralyzing. Extortion of a judge. Covering up a vehicular manslaughter committed by the Grandmother. God only knew what else Connor had managed to capture in his terrified, silent surveillance of his own family.
The bright, vivid colors of the world outside the car suddenly felt incredibly dangerous. The family Sabrina and Grandmother belonged to wasn't just rich; they were a criminal syndicate operating behind the facade of high society. And they knew she had the tablet.
They had offered her a hundred thousand dollars to leave it behind. When she refused, they had tried to lock her inside the estate. They were not going to simply let her walk away to the police station. They would hunt her down. They would use their influence, their money, and their violent connections to silence her and take the tablet back.
"Mommy?" Grace asked, uncovering her ears and peeking over the back seat. "Why are you crying?"
Grace’s mother quickly wiped the tears of overwhelming terror from her face. She forced a brave, reassuring smile onto her rosy lips. She couldn't fall apart. She was the only thing standing between her daughter and absolute destruction.
"I'm not crying, sweetie. I just... I saw something sad on the news," she lied smoothly, reaching back to squeeze her daughter's hand. "We can't go home right now, Grace. We have to go on a little trip."
"A trip? Where?" Grace asked, looking at her ruined, jagged hair in the reflection of the window.
"To a safe place," her mother said, her mind racing. She couldn't go to the local police; the videos proved the family had judges and likely cops in their pockets. She had to go to the FBI field office in the next city. She had to get federal protection.
She picked up her cell phone and immediately turned it off, removing the SIM card and tossing it out the window. She couldn't risk them tracking her location.
"Put your seatbelt on, Grace," she instructed, her voice hardening with a new, fierce resolve. She grabbed the digital tablet and shoved it deep into her medical tote bag on the floorboard.
She shifted the car back into drive and pulled out of the parking lot, merging onto the busy interstate highway. The bright American sun began to dip lower in the sky, casting long, cinematic shadows across the road.
She looked in the rearview mirror. The reflection showed a tired nurse in faded medical scrubs, and a little girl with a butchered haircut. But it also showed a woman holding the keys to the absolute destruction of a corrupt empire.
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The wealthy relatives thought she was weak. They thought she was just a poor wretch they could bully and discard. But they had handed her the weapon that would burn their entire world to the ground.
As the car accelerated down the highway, heading toward the unknown, Grace’s mother gripped the steering wheel tight. The war had just begun, and she was ready to fight.
