Chapter 4 - The Hunter's Web
Across the East River, in the penthouse office of the Romano Group, Preston dabbed a burn ointment onto his blistered cheek.
His eyes burned with humiliated rage as he stared at the wall of monitors.
"They're gone," Preston snarled, slamming his fist onto the mahogany desk.
Marcus stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, sipping a glass of twenty-year-old scotch.
"Nobody vanishes in New York, Preston," Marcus said calmly. "You promised me this surveillance system was absolute."
"It is," Preston defended himself, his fingers flying across a mechanical keyboard.
"I'm running facial recognition algorithms through every ATM camera, traffic light, and subway turnstile in the five boroughs."
A series of red dots began to populate a digital map of the city.
"Anthony is old school," Marcus mused, swirling the amber liquid in his glass.
"He won't use his credit cards. He won't use his cell phone. But he is a creature of habit."
Marcus turned away from the window. "Check the property records. Did he ever hold onto any real estate under a shell company?"
Preston's eyes widened. He typed frantically.
"There's an LLC registered to his late wife's maiden name," Preston said, pulling up a tax document. "An old industrial bakery in Queens."
Marcus smiled, a chilling expression that didn't reach his eyes.
"Send the security team. And Preston?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Tell them not to aim for the legs. We only need the hard drive, not the people carrying it."
Back in the bakery, Sofia's laptop suddenly emitted a sharp, high-pitched beep.
"What is that?" Anthony asked, jumping up.
"It's a proximity alert," Sofia panicked, closing the laptop and shoving the drive into her pocket.
"I set up a digital tripwire on the local cell towers. Someone just pinged our location with military-grade tracking software."
Headlights swept across the frosted windows of the bakery.
May you like
Heavy black SUVs were pulling up to the curb.
"They found us," Anthony whispered, grabbing a heavy iron tire iron from a toolbox. "We have to move. Now."
