Chapter 11 - The Confession
Five agonizing minutes ticked away on the golden desk clock in Arthur Sterling's office.
The silence of the room felt suffocating,
weighing down on the federal prosecutor like a physical mountain.
His phone vibrated violently against the polished wood,
signaling the incoming second call from Daniel Carter's underground network.
Arthur stared at the flashing screen with shaking hands,
knowing that answering it meant betraying his own flesh and blood.
Yet,
the alternative was losing everything he had spent his entire life building.
He snatched the receiver off the cradle and pressed it to his ear.
"Time is up,
Arthur,"
Daniel's voice resonated through the speaker,
calm,
deadly,
and absolute.
"Have you made your decision?"
Arthur closed his eyes,
a heavy sigh escaping his lips as his defeat became complete.
"Bar Harbor,"
Arthur whispered into the phone,
his voice trembling with exhaustion.
"She is renting an isolated seaside cottage near Bar Harbor,
Maine."
"Give me the exact address,"
Daniel demanded instantly.
Arthur recited the street name and property number,
his hands gripping the edge of the desk so hard his knuckles turned white.
"If Claire finds out I gave you this,
she will ensure I spend the rest of my life behind bars,"
Arthur pleaded.
"She won't find out,"
Daniel replied coldly.
"Because once I get my daughter back,
you will no longer be of any consequence to either of us."
The line clicked dead,
leaving Arthur alone in the quiet office,
knowing he had just signed away the final line of defense his cousin had built.
Meanwhile,
inside the maximum-security cell,
Daniel slipped the burner phone back into its hidden compartment.
He stared up at the tiny,
barbed-wire-framed square of sky visible through the high window.
The pieces were finally falling into place,
and his escape from the federal penitentiary was already set in motion.
He knew he couldn't walk out through the front gates legally,
but with enough money and loyal enforcers outside,
anything was possible.
He smiled darkly in the dark cell,
whispering into the empty air.
May you like
"I am coming,
Claire."
