Chapter 6 - The Confession in the Dark
By 9:00 PM, Emily was sitting at her kitchen table in the small apartment, staring blankly at the wall while Lily slept soundly in the next room. The manila folder sat in front of her like a curse.
She knew what Gregory Vance was capable of. Men like that didn't make empty threats. If she didn't comply, her life would be dismantled piece by piece before the weekend. But if she did comply, she would be handing over the security of the very company—and the very man—who had extended a lifeline when she was drowning.
She reached into her bag, her fingers brushing against the cream business card with silver lettering: Moretti Logistics.
She didn't have Dominic Moretti's direct phone number. The card had only the company address. But she knew that security logs at the headquarters recorded every visitor, every call, and every flag raised by the administrative staff.
Without thinking further, Emily grabbed her coat, whispered a soft apology toward Lily’s bedroom door, and walked out into the cool Manhattan night.
Forty minutes later, she was standing outside a discreet, unmarked townhouse on the Upper East Side—an address she had memorized from a personnel directory file she had accessed during her afternoon audit training. It was the private residence of Thomas Vance.
She pressed the brass doorbell.
After a long moment, the heavy oak door swung open. Thomas stood there in a comfortable sweater, looking surprised as he recognized her silhouette under the porch light.
"Emily? Is everything alright? What are you doing here at this hour?"
Emily didn't answer with words. She stepped forward and handed him the manila folder containing the extortion threat and the debt ledger.
Thomas took the folder, his eyes scanning the documents. As the seconds ticked by, the color drained from his face, and his expression hardened into stone.
"Where did you get this?" Thomas asked, his voice dangerously low.
"A man named Gregory Vance cornered me in the fourth-floor corridor tonight," Emily said, her voice shaking but resolute. "He wants me to leak the Tuesday security rosters and container manifests. He said if I don't, they'll foreclose on my apartment by morning."
Thomas stared at her for a long, heavy moment. Then, without a word, he turned back into the hallway, pulled a secure satellite phone from his pocket, and dialed a single pre-programmed digit.
"Boss," Thomas said into the receiver. "We have a breach. Gregory is moving on the asset."
A deep, gravelly voice echoed through the phone line, calm and terrifyingly cold. "Where is she now?"
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"She's right here in my study, sir."
"Keep her safe. Don't let her leave the house. I'm on my way."
