Chapter 5 - The Journey North
The drive from Connecticut to Baltimore on Sunday night felt like a descent into the underworld.
Gabriel drove his secondary vehicle—an older, unmarked sedan that hadn't been linked to his frozen corporate accounts—with white knuckles gripping the steering wheel. Vanessa sat in the passenger seat, wrapped in a blanket, sniffling intermittently and staring out the dark window with a mixture of terror and bitter resentment.
"I still don't understand why we're going," Vanessa muttered for the hundredth time as the city limits of Baltimore hove into view through the sleet. "Why don't we just catch a flight to Europe? Use cash! Surely you have cash stashed somewhere!"
"Every cash reserve, every safe deposit box, every emergency stash I had was tied to the corporate clearinghouses," Gabriel snapped, his eyes darting frantically between the road and the rearview mirror. "They locked everything down, Vanessa. Everything. If we tried to board a flight right now, interpol would flag our passports before we cleared security."
"So we're just walking into a trap?"
"We don't have a choice," Gabriel said through clenched teeth.
He knew exactly what happened to men in his line of work who tried to run when the syndicate’s ledger caught up with them. You didn't disappear. You simply became another headline in the local news—a tragic accident on a dark highway, a sudden heart attack in a motel room, a financial irregularity quietly buried by a compliant coroner.
Claire was giving him a trial. A hearing before execution.
By 9:45 AM on Monday morning, Gabriel parked the sedan in the underground garage of the Bennett-Standard Building—a towering art deco skyscraper in downtown Baltimore that Gabriel had always assumed belonged to a multinational investment firm.
As he stepped out of the car, two men in tailored charcoal suits stepped out from the shadows of concrete pillars. They didn't draw weapons. They didn't need to. Their cold, professional demeanor radiated an absolute, unquestionable lethality.
"Mr. Mercer," the taller of the two said, his voice completely devoid of emotion. "Floor 40. Suite 400. Mrs. Mercer is expecting you."
Gabriel swallowed hard, adjusting his tie with shaking fingers. "Where is Ms. Vale?"
"She was advised to remain in the vehicle," the guard replied smoothly. "This is a family matter."
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Gabriel didn't argue. He turned to Vanessa, who looked terrified. "Stay in the car. Lock the doors. If I’m not back down here by noon... get to a lawyer. Anyone who will listen."
Without waiting for her reply, Gabriel walked toward the private elevator bank.
