Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 61 - Chapitre 70

Agent Park called at dawn the morning after the fire."I heard about Marcus's apartment. Arson. Professional job. This is Jessica sending a message." Her voice was tight. "Bethany, you can't stay in New York. She's escalating. Next time it won't be an empty apartment. Next time someone dies.""I know. I'm already planning to leave. Small town. Far from here. Disappear like she wants.""That won't work. Jessica has resources to track you anywhere. She found Marcus's apartment. She knows your patterns. Your connections. Your habits. If you run on your own, she'll find you within weeks.""Then what do I do?""Witness protection. Federal program. New identities. Complete disappearance. We move you tonight. Safe house in Vermont while we build the case against Jessica. Once she's arrested, you can come back. Resume your life. But until then, you need to vanish completely."Marcus was listening. He'd spent the night on our couch, not wanting to be alone after the fire. He nodded at me. Agre

I couldn't sleep after Agent Park's text about Brock's suicide attempt. Something felt wrong. Off. Like a piece of a puzzle was missing and I couldn't see what.At six AM, I called Agent Park directly."The suicide attempt. Tell me more. When exactly did it happen?""According to the prison, around midnight. Guard found him hanging from a bedsheet tied to the ceiling vent. Cut him down immediately. He's alive but in medical custody.""And you believe that? That it was really a suicide attempt?""I believe the prison is reporting a suicide attempt. Whether Brock actually tried to kill himself or whether something else happened, I can't confirm. Why?""Because Jessica visited him two weeks ago under a fake name. Because the man at Emma's window looked like Brock. Because the timing of everything is too convenient. What if Brock didn't try to kill himself? What if he escaped and the prison is covering it up?""That's a serious accusation. Prisons don't just cover up escapes.""They do if

Morning came too quickly. I hadn't slept. Just lay there replaying Brock's text over and over. "I know this is a setup. But I'm coming anyway."Agent Park arrived at dawn with coffee and a tactical briefing. She spread maps across the kitchen table. Showed me the rest stop. The positioning of her teams. The escape routes they'd block. The ways this could go right.She didn't mention the ways it could go wrong. We both already knew."Brock will come armed," Agent Park said. "He's desperate. Cornered. That makes him unpredictable. Maybe more dangerous than Jessica because he's emotional instead of calculated.""But Jessica is the real threat," I said. "Brock is just her tool. Her weapon. She's the one planning this. The one pulling strings.""About that." Agent Park pulled up her tablet. Showed me communications intercepts. Cell tower data. Security footage from various locations. "We've been analyzing Brock's movements since his escape. Tracking his path. And Bethany, he's been in cons

"Wait," I said. My voice cut through the panic. Through Agent Park's frantic radio calls. Through the chaos. "Wait."Everyone stopped. Stared at me."Emma's not gone. She's not at the Montana safe house. She's not in New York. She's somewhere else."Agent Park's face went pale. "What are you talking about? Agent Chen just reported—""Agent Chen reported what we told her to report. What we planned for her to report. Because we knew Jessica would find us. Again. No matter where we hid. So we stopped hiding."Marcus stepped forward. "We set a trap inside a trap. The fake school in New York was bait for Jessica. But the Montana safe house was bait too. For Brock. We knew one of them would attack each location. We just didn't know which would go where."Agent Park's expression shifted from panic to confusion to dawning realization. "You played us. You set this up without telling me.""Because we couldn't trust anyone. You said it yourself. Jessica has someone inside the FBI. Someone who's

We were on a plane to Milwaukee within thirty minutes. Private charter. Fastest option. Agent Park, Marcus, and me. Plus six armed agents. Racing against time to reach Emma before Brock did."How did he find her?" I asked for the tenth time. "We were so careful. Only three people knew.""Four people," Agent Park corrected. "The security team in Milwaukee. They know Emma is there. They don't know why, but they know she's a high-value asset. Any one of them could have been compromised.""You vetted them. You said they were solid.""I vetted their backgrounds. Not their bank accounts. Not their families. Not every possible pressure point Jessica or Brock could exploit. Someone talked. Someone gave up Emma's location. We just don't know who yet."Marcus was on his phone. Calling the Milwaukee security team. Warning them. "This is Marcus Chen. We have credible intelligence that a hostile is en route to your location. Lock down immediately. No one in or out. Emma stays in the secure room un