Chapter 1 - The Dead Man Calling
Amara heard the phone vibrating before she felt the pain.
For one strange second, everything on the rooftop seemed far away.
Agents shouting.
Eleanor screaming.
Julian fighting against the handcuffs.
The broken bowl of pasta on the concrete.
Then Amara looked down.
Blood was spreading across the front of her dress.
Her knees weakened.
“Amara!”
One of the federal agents caught her before she hit the glass railing.
Her phone lay several feet away.
Still ringing.
Julian saw the screen first.
And stopped struggling.
“No.”
His face went white.
Eleanor twisted toward the phone.
Even with two agents holding her arms, she suddenly looked more frightened by that name than by the gun pointed at her.
Amara followed their stare.
The caller ID read:
VINCENT VALE.
She knew the name.
Everyone in the Vale family did.
Vincent Vale had been Eleanor’s husband.
Julian’s father.
And according to every official record—
dead for twenty years.
“Answer it,” Amara whispered.
The agent beside her pressed a hand against her wound.
“Ma’am, don’t move.”
“Answer the phone.”
Eleanor screamed.
“DON’T!”
That was enough.
Agent Ruiz picked it up.
He tapped speaker.
Nobody spoke.
For three seconds, there was only wind.
Then a man’s voice came through.
Older.
Weak.
But unmistakably calm.
“Amara?”
Julian made a sound like someone had punched him.
Eleanor stopped breathing.
Amara stared at the phone.
“Who is this?”
A pause.
Then:
“The man Eleanor failed to kill.”
Julian shook his head violently.
“No. My father is dead.”
The voice answered:
“That’s what your mother needed you to believe.”
Eleanor lunged toward the phone.
“You liar!”
The agents dragged her back.
Vincent ignored her.
“Amara, listen carefully. The $4.5 million was never the real money.”
Amara’s heart hammered.
“What does that mean?”
“It was bait.”
“For what?”
“To make Eleanor panic.”
Eleanor began screaming again.
Vincent’s voice lowered.
“And now that she has, the people above her know you found the Geneva account.”
Amara looked at Ruiz.
“People above her?”
Vincent answered before the agent could.
“You have less than ten minutes to get off that roof.”
Ruiz grabbed the phone.
“Mr. Vale, this is Special Agent Ruiz. Where are you?”
Vincent went silent.
Then:
“Agent Ruiz?”
“Yes.”
“You need to stop looking at Eleanor.”
Ruiz frowned.
“Why?”
“Because the sniper is behind you.”
The rooftop window shattered.
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
May you like
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://vibe.treeiq.biz
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
