Chapter 5

"A week before Merrill died, he had a huge fight with Harlan," Clara said, her voice trembling. "He wanted to marry me and have Nina officially recognized as part of the Zane family.

"Harlan flipped the table right then and there, saying if Merrill dared to marry me, he'd disown him," Clara explained.

"And then the accident happened," I said.

"Yeah," Clara replied.

"What did the police say?" I asked.

"They called it a traffic accident, said the other driver was drunk," Clara said, closing her eyes. "But after that, the Zane family handed over a million bucks to the driver's family. What kind of normal drunk driver gets a million dollars for his family?"

I kept my mouth shut after that.

It all made sense now.

Harlan probably orchestrated that car accident just to stop his son from marrying Clara.

Now that his eldest grandson needed a bone marrow transplant, Harlan had set his sights on Clara and Nina once again.

In Harlan's eyes, other people's lives were nothing but disposable resources for his family.

"Ms. Lynn, get some rest," I said.

I headed for the door.

"I'll be keeping watch in the hallway tonight. No one's coming in," I added.

"Hank," Clara called out.

I stopped in my tracks.

"Who are you, really?" She sounded genuinely confused.

"Just a delivery guy," I said.

Then, I closed the door behind me.

Out in the hallway, I sat down against the wall and pulled out my phone.

At the very bottom of my contacts, there was a number with no name. I hadn't called it in three years.

I stared at that number for a long time.

Three years ago, when I walked away from that life, I swore I'd never dial this number again.

But now, with a woman on the verge of death and a five-year-old kid depending on me, I couldn't keep my promise.

I hit the call button.

After two rings, the call was answered.

"Sexton?" The voice on the other end sounded genuinely shocked.

"It's me," I said.

"Three years, huh? You finally remembered me?" His tone shifted from surprise to a mix of anger and excitement.

"You just vanished without a word. Do you even know how long the brothers' been searching for you?" he snapped.

"Quint, I need your help," I said.

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"Go on," he finally said.

"I need you to look into someone for me. Harlan Zane, the guy who runs the Zane Group in Riverveil. I want every bit of dirt you can dig up on him—especially details about his private army," I said.

"Harlan Zane?" Quint's voice shifted. "You got on his bad side?"

"It's not that I got on his bad side. He's the one bullying people."

"Who could possibly make you break your own rules?"

I fell silent for a moment.

"A dying mother, and her five-year-old daughter."

There was a long silence on the other end.

Then Quint laughed, and there was a familiar edge in his voice I recognized right away.

"Alright, give me six hours. By dawn, you'll have everything you need," he said.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me," Quint said, suddenly sounding serious. "Sexton, if you need backup, just holler. The guys are all still around, ready to roll whenever you need."

"No need," I said.

"You sure? Harlan's not someone you want to mess with," Quint warned.

"I'm sure." I hung up and slipped my phone back into my pocket.

At the end of the hallway, two guys in black were leaning against the wall, scrolling through their phones, but every so often, they'd shoot a look my way.

I closed my eyes, leaned back against the wall, and started playing out how things might go down tomorrow in my head.

Harlan had set the deadline for noon tomorrow.

If Clara didn't agree, he'd come down here himself.

And if he showed up, that meant no more talking—he'd stop messing around and get physical.

I needed to find his soft spot before the deadline.

Everyone's got one, even the richest guy in Riverveil.

At four in the morning, my phone buzzed.

Quint had sent over an encrypted file.

I opened it up and skimmed through the details.

Harlan, sixty-two, founder of the Zane Group. He got his start in the land business back in the nineties, then branched out into real estate, hotels, and logistics.

On paper, he was worth over 7 billion dollars, but he got a whole network of shady side businesses running in the shadows.

His private army was officially called the Zane Security Agency, with eighty-six registered employees, but the real number was over two hundred.

Blake Bell, forty-one, spent seven years working for a private military company abroad and took part in three regional conflicts.

This guy was hardcore.

Particularly, there was one detail in Quint's file that made me smirk.

Blake and Harlan weren't as solid as they looked.

Three months ago, one of Blake's men got seriously injured on the job, but Harlan refused to pay for his medical bills, saying it wasn't covered in the contract.

Blake made a scene about it with Harlan, but nothing ever came of it.

But the rift was already there.

That was an opening I could use.