Chapter 9
I backed away until my shoulder hit the counter.
“Where is my father?”
“Safe,” Arthur said. “For the moment. He’s a good man. Naive. Thought honesty would save him. It won’t. Just like it won’t save you.”
“What do you want?”
“Lauren.” He took a step closer. “And the files. She contacted you. I know she did. Tell me where she is, and your father walks free. Tell me nothing… and neither of you leaves Vegas.”
“Daniel is going to prison,” I said. “All of you are. The files prove everything.”
Arthur laughed. A dry, humorless sound.
“The files prove illegal things happened. They prove Daniel is a thief and a liar. But names like mine? Like Voss’s? Buried deep. Lauren’s half won’t touch us. Your half won’t either. Not without the rest. Which means you need her just as badly as we do.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because she made a mistake,” Arthur said. “She hid the files somewhere. And she told you how to find them. Before she ran. Before we caught up to her.”
My heart stopped. “Caught up to her?”
Arthur’s expression shifted. Cold. Sharp.
“Lauren is missing, Sarah. Since last night. My associates picked up her trail outside the city. But she’s gone. Vanished. And until you lead us to her… your father is our insurance.”
Rage surged through me. Hot and blinding.
“You hurt him—”
“We won’t have to,” Arthur said. “All you have to do is finish what she started. Follow the clues. Find where she hid the backup. Hand it over. And we all walk away. No one gets hurt. Daniel pleads guilty to fraud. Serves his time. The money stays where it is. And you—get to keep your life.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then your father stays with us. Indefinitely. And Lauren… well. She’s pregnant. Scared. Alone. Things happen to women like that when they run.”
I gripped the counter until my knuckles turned white.
He had my father. He had people everywhere. Lauren was missing. The evidence was half gone.
If I agreed… I led them straight to the files. Straight to Lauren. And then they’d silence all of us.
If I refused… they’d hurt my father. Maybe kill him.
I had no good choice. Only a hard one.
“Okay,” I said.
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll follow the clues,” I said. “But you give me space. No one follows me. No one touches him. And once I have the location… we trade. Files for my father. Safe and sound.”
Arthur studied me. Searching for a lie.
“Agreed,” he said finally. “But know this, Sarah. If you try to call the FBI… if you try anything clever… the trade never happens. And you will never see your father again.”
He turned to leave. Paused at the doors.
“You have twenty-four hours. Start with the courthouse records. Just like she told you.”
He walked out.
I stood there, shaking, until the clerk touched my arm.
“Ma’am? Are you okay?”
I looked at her. And remembered Lauren’s warning.
Trust no one.
“I’m fine,” I said quietly. “Just… a bad family argument.”
I walked back out into the street. Alone. No father. No allies. A ticking clock. And a trail of clues Lauren had left behind, trusting me to finish what she started.
But I wasn’t going to lead Arthur to any files.
May you like
I was going to find Lauren first. Get the full evidence. And hand every single name—including Arthur’s—to the FBI.
And if my father got hurt along the way… I would make sure every person responsible paid with everything they had.
