Chapter 5: The traitor at Vale
The room fell silent.
Adrian didn’t move.
Dominic didn’t speak.
Mara felt the air leave her lungs.
“The traitor asked where I was?”
Adrian nodded once.
“The message was intercepted two minutes ago.”
“Who sent it?”
“We’re tracing it now.”
Mara looked toward the dark forest beyond the mirrored glass.
“He found me.”
“No.”
Adrian’s voice was calm.
“Someone tried to find you.”
“There’s a difference.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t know how he works.”
“I know enough.”
Dominic’s phone buzzed.
He checked the screen.
Then looked directly at Adrian.
“It’s Marcus.”
Marcus DeLuca.
Adrian’s operations director.
His most trusted lieutenant.
His closest friend after Dominic.
Adrian answered on speaker.
“Talk.”
Marcus sounded frustrated.
“I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“I was in a meeting.”
“I heard about the leak.”
Adrian remained expressionless.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m already looking into it.”
“Good.”
Marcus hesitated.
“Where’s the girl?”
Mara froze.
Adrian’s eyes didn’t leave the window.
“She’s secure.”
“I should move her.”
“No.”
“She’s a liability.”
“She’s under my protection.”
Silence.
Marcus sighed.
“You’re getting emotionally involved.”
The line disconnected.
Dominic looked at Adrian.
“He never asks twice.”
Adrian didn’t answer.
He simply looked at Mara.
“Pack a bag.”
“We’re leaving?”
“Yes.”
“I thought this place was secure.”
“It was.”
“What changed?”
He looked toward the driveway.
“Marcus knew about this property.”
The convoy left twenty minutes later.
Three armored SUVs.
Two decoy vehicles.
Electronic counter-surveillance.
They drove without headlights through forest roads until they reached a private airstrip.
A helicopter waited on the runway.
Mara stared at it.
“Where are we going?”
“You don’t need to know.”
She looked at him.
“You don’t trust me.”
“I trust you.”
He helped her into the helicopter.
“I don’t trust whoever’s listening.”
The flight lasted forty-seven minutes.
They landed at an abandoned vineyard overlooking a lake.
Beneath the old wine cellar was another safe house.
Smaller.
Hidden.
Invisible from the air.
As Dominic secured the perimeter, Mara found Adrian standing alone near the water.
“You think it’s Marcus.”
“I think it could be.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
He looked at the lake.
“I’ve known him since I was nineteen.”
“He saved my life.”
“Twice.”
She was quiet for a moment.
“People can love you and betray you.”
He looked at her.
“You’re speaking from experience.”
She nodded.
“I was engaged to Nolan.”
“I defended him.”
“I ignored things.”
“I explained away things.”
“I loved him.”
She looked down.
“Until I realized I was helping build my own prison.”
Adrian studied her carefully.
“What were you going to tell me before the phone call?”
She closed her eyes briefly.
“The drive.”
He waited.
“I didn’t hide it alone.”
His expression changed.
“There’s someone else.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
She hesitated.
“A journalist.”
Adrian frowned.
“Name?”
“Rachel Monroe.”
Dominic looked up from across the room.
“The investigative reporter?”
Mara nodded.
“She was investigating Kelleher Holdings.”
“She contacted me anonymously.”
“I didn’t trust her.”
“But after I escaped…”
She looked at Adrian.
“I needed insurance.”
“So you gave her the drive.”
“No.”
“I gave her half.”
Silence.
“What do you mean half?”
“I copied the files.”
“One copy is hidden.”
“One copy is with Rachel.”
Adrian slowly sat down.
“How long has she had it?”
“Ten months.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because if someone captured me…”
She looked directly at him.
“…I needed there to be something I couldn’t reveal.”
Dominic spoke quietly.
“That was smart.”
Adrian nodded once.
“Yes.”
Mara looked surprised.
“You’re not angry?”
“I would have done the same thing.”
Relief washed across her face.
For the first time since they met, she looked less like a fugitive and more like a woman remembering she was allowed to breathe.
That peace lasted exactly thirty seconds.
An explosion shook the vineyard.
The lights went out instantly.
Dominic drew his weapon.
“Contact!”
Gunfire erupted above them.
The sound echoed through the underground cellar.
Mara’s heart slammed against her ribs.
“How did they find us?”
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
“They didn’t.”
Another explosion.
Concrete dust fell from above.
“They followed us.”
Dominic checked a monitor.
“Three vehicles.”
“No.”
He looked again.
“Four.”
The security cameras flickered.
Masked men were moving through the vineyard.
Professional.
Coordinated.
One of them carried military-grade explosives.
“They’re not here to negotiate,” Dominic said.
Adrian handed Mara a pistol.
She stared at it.
“I’ve never…”
“Do you know how to shoot?”
She nodded slowly.
“Nolan made me learn.”
“Good.”
He looked directly at her.
“Today that mistake saves your life.”
The underground doors shook violently.
Another blast.
The steel hinges began bending inward.
Dominic turned to Adrian.
“There’s a tunnel.”
“How long?”
“Eight minutes.”
Adrian nodded.
“Move.”
They entered a narrow passage behind the wine racks.
The tunnel sloped downward toward the lakeshore.
Halfway through, Mara stopped.
“What?”
She looked back.
“They’re too organized.”
Adrian frowned.
“They knew exactly where the entrance was.”
Another explosion echoed behind them.
Mara’s voice became almost a whisper.
“It’s Marcus.”
Before Adrian could answer, his phone vibrated.
A message.
No number.
Just a photograph.
Rachel Monroe.
Bound to a chair.
Bruised.
Alive.
Beneath the photo was a single sentence.
Bring Mara, or the reporter dies.
Adrian looked at the screen.
Mara saw it too.
Her face went white.
“They found Rachel.”
The tunnel suddenly felt too small.
The lake ahead too far away.
Adrian looked at Mara.
Then back at the burning vineyard behind them.
The traitor had not only betrayed his location.
May you like
He had found the one person holding the other half of the evidence.
And whoever had sent that message knew exactly how to force the next move.
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