Chapter 18 - Face to Face
John walked up to the cabin porch, his boots thudding softly against the wet wooden steps.
He didn't knock. He pushed the door open, letting the cold wind blow inside.
"You should've stayed at the bank, Mark," John said, his voice flat, completely lacking the warmth of the brother who had taken Mark hunting every autumn since they were kids.
Mark stood behind the heavy oak table, his hand resting inches from his Glock.
"You shot yourself in that motel," Mark said. "Just enough to make it look real."
"A superficial flesh wound in the side," John replied, stepping farther into the room.
Vance stayed on the porch, lighting a cigar under his umbrella.
John gave a humorless smile.
"And a veterinary sedative strong enough to slow my pulse and drop me for six minutes."
Mark’s jaw tightened.
"The men at the motel knew you were alive."
"Of course they did."
John tapped the fresh bandage at his side.
"They were supposed to retrieve me after you took the key. You weren't supposed to hear them say I was still under."
Mark stared at him.
John continued.
"We paid off the coroner three weeks ago. It was supposed to end at the vault. You hand over the drive to the 'killers,' we clear the books, and everybody gets to vanish."
"And Sam's brother?" Mark asked, glancing at Sam, who hadn't moved from the bench.
John didn't look at her. "Tommy was a liability. He talked too much."
Sam’s hand twitched under the wool blanket.
Mark caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. He saw what she was holding underneath the fabric—not her service weapon, which was empty on the table, but the heavy iron crowbar she’d pulled from the vault.
"You're not leaving this county, John," Mark said softly.
John pulled a silenced 9mm from his jacket pocket and leveled it directly at Mark's face. "Yeah, I am. And you're going to be the tragic hero who died fighting the corrupt Mayor."
"One problem with that," Mark said.
"What's that?"
Mark looked past John, straight at Mayor Vance standing on the porch.
"I already sent the drive's master key to the State Attorney General twenty minutes ago from the cabin's satellite uplink."
John’s eyes flicked to the laptop screen for a fraction of a second.
May you like
That was the only mistake Mark needed.
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