Chapter 35 - Sister in the Crosshairs
Before I could download the operational logs, my tactical field radio hummed with an incoming civilian frequency override.
A sharp, terrified sob spilled from the tiny speaker.
"Evie? Evie, please pick up! Dad is dead!"
My spine went rigid. I grabbed the receiver. "Chloe? Where are you? What did you say?"
"They came to the apartment in Incline Village," Chloe shrieked, her voice fraying into hysterical ragged gasps. "Three men in black uniforms. They dragged Dad out into the snow and... God, Evie, they shot him in the head right on the driveway! They're looking for me. They said I signed the transfer deeds. They said I’m the custodian of the account now!"
The reality slammed into me with sickening clarity. Charles Hayes, the man who had stolen my savings, betrayed my loyalty, and favored his golden daughter over his soldier child, was dead. He had been discarded the second his utility expired.
"Chloe, listen to me," I ordered, my voice dropping into the calm, lethal tone of a battlefield commander. "Stop crying and listen. Where are you hiding?"
"Behind the old maintenance shed at the golf resort," she wept. "I don't have my shoes. My feet are frozen. Evie, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. Dad told me you were just jealous, he told me the house was an investment—"
"Shut up, Chloe," I snapped. "If you make another sound, they’ll acquire your position. Stay inside the shed. Do not touch your phone. Do not look out the windows. I am twenty minutes out."
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"Evie... why are they trying to kill us?"
"Because you wanted a four-million-dollar house," I whispered coldly. "And you didn't check who held the mortgage."
