Chapter 127 FREEDOM AT A PRICE

Chapter 127 FREEDOM AT A PRICE


Claire stared at the screen, tears streaming down her cheeks. Sophia put an arm around her.

“He's scared,” Sophia said. “That's why he's threatening you. Because he knows he's losing.”

“Or because he knows what Rafael will do to him if he fails,” Marcus added grimly.

TWO HOURS LATER

Sophia couldn't sleep.

She sat by the window, Victoria in her arms, watching the dark trees sway in the wind. 

The baby had woken up hungry, and after a bottle and a diaper change, she was back to sleep, her tiny face peaceful.

Sophia wished she could feel the same peace.

Her phone the burner Marcus had given her buzzed. A text from an unknown number.

“You think hiding in the woods will save you? I found Julian in Connecticut. I found Claire in Manhattan. I'll find you too.”

Sophia's blood ran cold.

Another buzz.

“The USB. Give it to me. And I'll let you walk away.”

She typed back: “Who is this?”

“You know who.”

Sophia's hands trembled. She looked down at Victoria, then back at the phone.

“I'm not giving you anything. And I'm not running.”

“Then you're making a mistake. The biggest one of your life.”

The messages stopped.

Sophia sat in the darkness, holding her daughter, and wondered if she had just signed her own death warrant.

FEDERAL DETENTION CENTER — THE NEXT MORNING

Alexander sat in the visitors' room, wrists cuffed to the table. Across from him sat his lawyer, Robert Callahan, looking tired but determined.

“The judge denied the emergency hearing,” Callahan said.

Alexander's jaw tightened. “On what grounds?”

“Lack of evidence that Rafael's threats are imminent. The prosecution argued that text messages from an unknown number don't prove immediate danger.”

“So I just sit here while my daughter is hunted?”

Callahan leaned forward. “There's another option. But you're not going to like it.”

“I don't care what I like. Tell me.”

Callahan pulled out a file. “The FBI is willing to offer you a deal. Full release in exchange for cooperation.”

Alexander frowned. “Cooperation with what?”

“They want Rafael Castillo. They've wanted him for years. But they can't get close enough. You can.”

Alexander stared at his lawyer. “You want me to become an informant.”

“I want you to get out of prison and protect your family. How you do that is up to you.”

Alexander was silent for a long moment.

“What would it involve?”

“Wearing a wire. Meeting with Rafael. Getting him to confess to his crimes on record. In exchange, they drop all charges against you. You walk free. No parole. No restrictions.”

“And if Rafael finds out?”

Callahan didn't answer.

Alexander looked down at his cuffed hands. “What about Sophia? Victoria? If I do this, they become targets.”

“They're already targets,” Callahan said quietly. “This way, you can actually protect them.”

Alexander closed his eyes. “Set up the meeting with the FBI.”

“Alexander—”

“Set it up,” he repeated, opening his eyes. “I'll wear their wire. I'll meet with Rafael. I'll do whatever it takes. But when this is over, I walk free. No more deals. No more prison.”

Callahan nodded slowly. “I'll make the call.”

THE CABIN — THAT AFTERNOON

Sophia stood on the small porch, watching Claire pace back and forth in the yard. Marcus was inside, working on the security system.

“You're going to wear a hole in the grass,” Sophia called out.

Claire stopped. “I can't just sit here. David is out there. Rafael is out there. And we're hiding in a cabin like fugitives.”

“We're not fugitives. We're survivors.”

Claire walked back to the porch, sitting on the step beside Sophia. “Do you think Alexander will get out?”

“I don't know,” Sophia admitted. “But I know he's fighting. And that's more than most people would do.”

Claire was quiet for a moment. “Do you love him?”

Sophia looked out at the trees. “I don't know that either. I thought I did. Then I thought I hated him. Now… I just want Victoria to have a father who isn't in prison or hiding from criminals.”

“That's not an answer.”

“It's the only one I have.”

Marcus appeared in the doorway. “We have a problem.”

Sophia stood. “What?”

“I was monitoring the police bands. Someone filed a missing persons report on Claire. David told the police she's unstable, possibly a danger to herself.”

Claire's face went white. “He's setting me up.”

“Worse,” Marcus said. “He's giving the police a reason to find her. And when they find her, they'll find you.”

Sophia grabbed Victoria from inside, the baby starting to cry at the sudden movement. “We need to leave.”

“Where?” Claire asked, panicked. “There's nowhere else to go.”

Marcus pulled out his phone. “I know someone. A contact who owes me a favor. She's off-grid, completely off the books. But it means crossing state lines. It means disappearing for real.”

Sophia looked at Victoria, then at Claire, then at Marcus.

“Do it,” she said. “Whatever it takes.” 

THREE DAYS LATER 

The safehouse in Pennsylvania was nothing like the cabin.

It was a full compound eight bedrooms, a panic room, a private airstrip, and enough surveillance equipment to make the NSA jealous. Marcus's contact, a woman named Katrina "Kat" Volkov, had built it as a contingency for her own empire. 

Kat was a fixer the kind of person criminals and billionaires called when they needed problems to disappear.

She was also terrifying.

Sophia watched from the kitchen window as Kat directed two armed men to patrol the perimeter. 

Kat was in her early forties, with sharp cheekbones, cold gray eyes, and a scar that ran from her left temple to her jaw. 

She moved like someone who had survived things most people couldn't imagine.

"Your friend doesn't do this for free," Sophia said as Marcus joined her.

"No," Marcus admitted. "But what she wants isn't money."

"What does she want?"

Marcus hesitated. "Access. To Alexander. To his network. She's been trying to break into the New York market for years, but the old guard won't let her in."

Sophia turned from the window. "So she's using us."

"Everyone uses everyone, Sophia. You know that better than anyone."

She did. But it still stung.

THE SAME MORNING — NEW YORK

Helena stood in the boardroom of what used to be MLH. Now it was TI Global, and Kai Tanaka sat at the head of the table, his expression unreadable.

"You're asking me to go to war with Rafael Castillo," Tanaka said calmly. "Why?"

Helena placed a folder on the table. "Because he's trying to destroy the woman who built this company. The woman whose technology made you billions."

Tanaka didn't touch the folder. "Sophia Hart is no longer my concern. She sold her shares. She walked away."

"She didn't walk away. She was pushed. By Rafael. By the lies he spread."

Tanaka leaned back in his chair. "And you want me to fight her battles for her."