Chapter 6 - The Safehouse Rescue
By that afternoon, the tide had completely turned. With the Whitlock shipping empire in a state of sudden federal lockdown, Daniel wasted no time. He organized the extraction team to rescue my brother, Caleb, from the hidden safehouse Aaron had prepared before his death.
I refused to stay in the bedroom. Despite Dr. Jude’s orders for bed rest, I sat in the command center of the mansion’s basement, watching the live GPS feeds on the security monitors alongside Martin Hale and young Ben.
"Is Caleb going to be okay, Hannah?" Ben asked, holding my hand tightly as he looked at the blinking blue dots on the screen.
"Yes, Ben," I said, forcing a brave smile while my heart hammered a frantic rhythm. "Your Uncle Daniel is going to bring him back safely."
On the screen, the blue dots representing Daniel and Marcus’s team stopped outside an abandoned textile mill near the old industrial canal—the exact location found in Aaron's hidden workbench files.
Suddenly, the audio feed crackled to life. The sound of heavy footsteps echoing through concrete corridors filled the room.
"Carver, we’ve got movement on the third floor," Marcus’s voice reported over the radio. "Whitlock’s remaining loyalists are trying to clear out the files. They know the feds are closing in."
"Secure the perimeter," Daniel’s calm, authoritative voice commanded. "Nobody leaves with a single piece of paper."
A tense minute of silence passed, broken only by the sound of distant shouting and the sharp, clean crack of a single breaching charge. My breath hitched. I squeezed Ben's hand so tightly his little knuckles turned pink.
"Hannah? Can you hear me?"
The voice on the radio didn't belong to Daniel or Marcus. It was shaky, hoarse, and strained with exhaustion, but I would recognize it anywhere in the world.
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"Caleb!" I screamed into the microphone, tears instantly blinding my vision. "Caleb, I'm here! Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, sis," my brother gasped, a sob breaking through his voice. "Daniel found me. I have the ledger. I have everything Aaron died to protect. It's over, Hannah. We're finally safe."
