Chapter 3: The Man with Green Eyes
Claire didn't move.
Outside the apartment door, silence stretched like a wire ready to snap.
Then the voice came again.
"Claire... I know you're frightened."
Victor.
Her father's oldest friend.
The man who had taught her how to ride a bicycle.
The man who had hugged her at Nathan Mercer's funeral while promising, "You'll always have family."
Now, all Claire could see was her father's note.
Never trust the man with green eyes.
Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.
She quietly stepped away from the door and picked up the heavy cast-iron frying pan from the tiny kitchen.
Not much of a weapon.
Better than nothing.
Three gentle knocks echoed through the room.
"I'm alone," Victor said.
"I just want to talk."
Claire remained silent.
"You have something that belongs to Black Tide."
Her grip tightened.
So...
He knew about the USB.
The necklace.
Everything.
A chill crawled down her spine.
How?
Outside the building...
Victor stood perfectly still.
A black umbrella shielded him from the rain.
His expensive suit was immaculate despite the weather.
Across the street, a young man sat inside a parked van, watching through binoculars.
"She's still inside," the man whispered into a headset.
Victor smiled faintly.
"I know."
"Should we force entry?"
"No."
Victor glanced at the apartment window.
"Claire is her father's daughter."
"If we push..."
"...she'll run."
Inside...
Claire slowly reached for her phone.
Not her real phone.
A cheap prepaid device she'd purchased that morning.
She opened the camera.
Using it as a mirror, she angled it beneath the door.
Two pairs of shoes.
Victor wasn't alone.
One pair polished leather.
One pair military-style boots.
She whispered to herself.
"Liar."
Victor wasn't here to help.
He was hunting her.
She quietly opened the apartment's rear window.
Rain poured in.
The fire escape glistened under the streetlights.
She climbed out just as someone rattled the doorknob.
Victor sighed.
"I was hoping you wouldn't choose this."
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
The apartment was empty.
One of Victor's men rushed to the window.
"She's escaping!"
Victor didn't chase.
Instead, he walked to the kitchen table.
A cup of tea still steamed gently.
He touched it.
Warm.
"She's close."
He noticed something else.
A tiny breadcrumb.
Then another.
Leading toward the window.
Victor smiled.
"Clever."
She had deliberately left signs behind.
Not because she was careless.
Because she wanted him to think she had fled.
Claire wasn't on the fire escape anymore.
The moment she'd climbed out the window, she'd pulled herself upward instead of climbing down.
Now she lay flat on the rain-soaked roof directly above her apartment.
She listened.
Footsteps thundered down the fire escape.
Victor's men had taken the bait.
She counted.
One...
Two...
Three...
All of them.
Only Victor remained inside.
After another minute...
Even he left.
Claire waited five more minutes before crawling across the rooftop.
Only when she reached the neighboring building did she allow herself to breathe.
Her swimming instructor had once said,
"Escaping isn't about moving faster.
It's about making the other person move first."
The next morning...
She visited the public library.
Not to read.
To investigate.
Old newspaper archives.
She searched one name.
Nathan Mercer.
Hundreds of articles appeared.
Shipping contracts.
Charity donations.
Business awards.
Then one article caught her attention.
LOCAL EXECUTIVE SAVES FIVE FISHERMEN DURING STORM
The accompanying photograph showed Nathan standing beside six men.
Claire zoomed in.
One face made her stomach tighten.
Victor.
Standing beside her father.
Smiling.
She read the caption.
"Nathan Mercer and business partner Victor Hale celebrate the expansion of Mercer Shipping."
Business partner?
Claire frowned.
Her father had always introduced Victor as merely a friend.
Why hide the partnership?
She continued searching.
Then she found it.
Three years before Nathan's death...
Victor had quietly sold all his shares in Mercer Shipping.
The buyer's name had been redacted.
But one detail remained.
The transaction had been worth...
$180 million.
Where had that money gone?
Meanwhile...
Ryan stared at surveillance footage from the motel.
Frame by frame.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Jason leaned against the wall.
"You've watched this twenty times."
Ryan ignored him.
Then he paused the video.
"There."
Jason looked.
"What?"
"The hallway mirror."
Barely visible in the reflection...
Claire looked through the peephole.
Then stepped away.
Ryan narrowed his eyes.
"She checked before opening."
"So?"
"So she expected danger."
Jason shrugged.
"She's scared."
Ryan slowly shook his head.
"No."
"She's thinking."
That worried him more than anything.
Late that afternoon...
Claire finally found someone she trusted.
Or thought she did.
Emma Lawson.
Her college roommate.
They hadn't spoken in nearly four years.
Emma opened the café door and froze.
"...Claire?"
Claire burst into tears.
Emma hugged her immediately.
"My God..."
"They said you were dead."
"I almost was."
They sat in a secluded corner.
Claire told her almost everything.
Not about Black Tide.
Not about the USB.
But enough.
Ryan's betrayal.
The yacht.
The attempt on her life.
Emma listened without interrupting.
When Claire finished...
Emma reached across the table.
"You can stay with me."
For the first time since falling into the ocean...
Claire felt safe.
She shouldn't have.
Across the street...
A man wearing sunglasses lowered his camera.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Several photographs captured Claire embracing Emma.
He sent them instantly.
Within seconds...
Victor's phone vibrated.
He opened the images.
Emma Lawson.
He recognized the name immediately.
"So..."
Victor murmured.
"You finally trusted someone."
He smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry, Emma."
That evening...
Emma insisted Claire sleep in her guest room.
"You need real rest."
Claire smiled weakly.
"Thank you."
After Emma went to bed...
Claire couldn't sleep.
Something felt wrong.
Not about Emma.
About the apartment.
Too quiet.
She walked downstairs for a glass of water.
As she passed the front window...
She noticed a black sedan parked across the street.
Its engine was running.
The headlights remained off.
Someone was inside.
Watching.
Claire quietly moved away from the window.
She climbed upstairs.
Opened the guest room curtains just enough to peek outside.
The sedan hadn't moved.
Then...
A second vehicle arrived.
A delivery van.
No company logo.
It parked behind the sedan.
Four men climbed out.
Black clothing.
Gloves.
No umbrellas despite the rain.
Claire's blood ran cold.
They weren't here to watch anymore.
They were here to enter.
She rushed into Emma's bedroom.
"Wake up!"
Emma blinked in confusion.
"What?"
"We have to leave."
"Claire, it's two in the morning."
"They found me."
Emma sat upright.
"What are you talking about?"
Before Claire could answer...
The downstairs security alarm screamed.
A window shattered.
Glass exploded across the living room.
Heavy footsteps flooded into the house.
Someone shouted,
"Clear the first floor!"
Emma's face turned white.
"Oh my God..."
Claire grabbed her hand.
"The back door."
They ran.
Another crash echoed below.
A deep voice barked,
"Upstairs!"
The house shook beneath pounding boots.
Claire and Emma burst through the rear entrance into the rain.
They sprinted across the backyard.
Toward the alley.
Toward freedom.
Then headlights suddenly flooded the darkness.
A black SUV blocked the alley exit.
Its rear door opened.
Victor stepped out.
Umbrella in one hand.
Calm as ever.
He looked directly at Claire.
"I warned you not to run."
Claire stopped.
Emma whispered,
"Who is that?"
Victor answered himself.
"I'm the only reason you're still alive."
Claire stared at him in disbelief.
"If Ryan finds you before I do..."
Victor lowered his umbrella.
"...he'll finish what he started."
Behind them, armed men burst from the house.
In front of them...
Victor slowly raised both empty hands.
"I'm giving you one chance."
"Come with me..."
"...or they'll kill all three of us."
Claire looked past Victor.
Toward the driver's seat of the SUV.
A man sat behind the wheel.
Lightning flashed across his face.
Claire's breath caught.
It was Captain Elias Brooks.
The man who had rescued her from the ocean.
He looked at Claire through the windshield...
May you like
...and subtly shook his head.
End of Chapter 3
