Chapter 7 - HIGH-SPEED PURSUIT
Mark slowly lowered the phone, staring at the blank screen in absolute disbelief.
"My father..." Sarah whispered, her face draining of what little color it had left.
"Mark, what did he mean about my father's debts?"
Mark turned his body around completely, staring at Sarah with deep concern and confusion.
"Sarah... what was Julian talking about?" Mark asked softly.
"What does my family have on your father?"
Sarah buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking violently as she broke into silent, heavy sobs.
"I wanted to tell you, Mark!" Sarah cried out, her voice muffled by her trembling palms.
"Ten years ago, before we even met... my father's business was failing."
"He was desperate, so he took a high-interest loan from Eleanor's private investment firm."
"When he couldn't pay it back, Eleanor used that debt to control him!"
Mark felt as if a heavy weight had dropped straight into his stomach.
"She controlled him?" Mark asked, stepping closer to the back.
"She forced my father to agree to our marriage arrange, Mark!" Sarah confessed, looking up at him with tear-stained eyes.
"Eleanor wanted a quiet, obedient girl from a desperate family who wouldn't question where the Vance money came from!"
"Our entire marriage was orchestrated by your mother from the very beginning!"
Mark sat frozen in shock as the realization washed over him like ice water.
"You... you didn't marry me because you loved me?" Mark asked quietly, his heart aching.
"I was terrified of your family at first, Mark!" Sarah sobbed, reaching out to touch his arm frantically.
"But I fell in love with you! I swear to God I fell in love with you, Mark!"
"You were nothing like Eleanor or Julian!"
"You were kind, you were protective, and you gave me Leo!"
"But Eleanor kept reminding me every single month that if I stepped out of line, she would destroy my father!"
"That's why I let her treat me like a maid when you weren't looking!"
"Because she threatened to put my father in prison!"
Mark stared at her, processing the layers of manipulation that had surrounded his life for years.
His mother hadn't just controlled the business; she had constructed his entire personal life as a puppet show.
Mark reached out, grabbing Sarah's trembling hands and holding them firmly in his own.
"Listen to me, Sarah," Mark said with absolute clarity and intensity.
"My mother and Julian are finished."
"They used fear to rule this family for too long."
"I don't care what my father signed, and I don't care what debt your father owes."
"We are going to finish this tonight."
Sarah looked into his dark eyes, finding a sliver of hope amid her terror.
"How?" Sarah asked raspy. "Julian has security, the police are hunting you, and we have nowhere to go!"
Mark pulled the brass key out of his pocket and held it up between them.
"Julian wants this key at Pier 41," Mark said, his tone turning ice cold.
"He thinks I'm going to walk into his trap alone like an obedient little brother."
"He forgot that before I joined the corporate board, I spent four years in the military motor pool."
Mark reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an old leather wallet, flipping it open to reveal a laminated business card.
On the front of the card was a emblem of a silver skull over two crossed wrenches, along with a single phone number.
"Who is that?" Sarah asked, staring at the card.
"An old friend named Jax," Mark replied, tapping the card.
"He runs the largest custom motorcycle club in the state."
"And my father owed him a favor he never got to collect."
Mark dialed the number on his phone and placed it against his ear, waiting as the line rang three times.
A deep, gravelly voice answered on the fourth ring.
"Who is this?" the voice growled.
"Jax," Mark said calmly into the mic.
"This is Mark Vance."
"My father is dead, my brother is trying to kill my family, and I need a war counsel."
There was a long silence on the other end of the line.
May you like
"Meet me at the old rail yard near the river in twenty minutes, kid," Jax replied smoothly.
"And bring a weapon."
