Ron Donaldo: Rise Of The Apex Don

Chapter 26

Theresa walked into the huge, white marble bathroom attached to the bedroom. She looked at the ceiling. There were no cameras in the bathroom. The Director liked to watch, but even he had limits. 

She walked to the large silver sink and turned the water on full blast. The water rushed out loudly, hitting the marble. The loud noise of the water would hide the sound of her voice. 

Theresa sat down on the cold floor next to the bathtub. She reached down and took off her left high heel shoe. 

It was a very expensive designer shoe, custom-made in Italy. But it was not just a shoe. 

Theresa dug her long, sharp fingernails into the thick red sole of the shoe. She pulled hard. The red sole ripped away from the bottom of the shoe. 

Hidden inside a small, hollow space in the heel was a tiny, flat, black piece of plastic. 

It was an emergency satellite phone. 

Theresa had bought it on the black market three years ago. She had hidden it in her shoe in case the police ever came for her. The phone did not use regular cell towers. It bounced its signal directly off satellites in space. It could not be tracked easily. 

Her hands shook wildly as she pulled the tiny phone out. She pressed the small power button. The screen glowed with a faint, green light. 

She had to make a choice. She could not call the police. The police worked for the Mayor, and the Mayor worked for The Director. She could not call Marcus. Marcus was a captive. 

She needed a monster. She needed someone who was smart enough to beat The Director's men, and deadly enough to fight Ron’s Iron Legion. 

She typed a secret number into the keypad. It was a number she had kept memorized in her brain for years. 

She held the tiny phone to her ear. She listened to the loud rushing water in the sink. 

Ring... Ring... Ring...

"Speak," a voice answered. 

The voice did not sound angry. It did not sound scary. It sounded incredibly boring. It sounded like a tired bank teller or a sleepy teacher. It was flat, gray, and completely empty of life. 

"Vane," Theresa whispered, pressing the phone hard against her face. 

"Theresa Sterling," the boring voice replied. "You are having a very bad day. Your company is dead. Your city is in the dark. And your face is on every news channel."

"I need your help, Vane," Theresa said fast. "I am trapped in a penthouse at the top of the Grand Royale Hotel. The Director's men are holding me here. I think they have orders to kill me."

Vane was quiet for a moment. "The Director is a very powerful man. If I cross him, I become a target."

"I have money!" Theresa cried softly. "I have ten million dollars hidden in a secret offshore account in Switzerland. The Director does not know about it. Nobody knows about it. It is completely clean. If you get me out of this building and get me out of the country, it is yours."

"Ten million," Vane said slowly. "That is a fair price for a difficult job. But there is another problem, Theresa. You are being hunted by the Apex."

Theresa closed her eyes. Just hearing Ron's new name made her shiver. 

"Ron Donaldo," Vane continued. "He is the Warlord of The Pit. He just stole two hundred tons of lithium, broke a Blackwater team, survived a dirty bomb, and took over your headquarters. He is a very angry ghost. If I save you, he will hunt me, too."

"You are an expert, Vane!" Theresa pleaded. "You are the best Fixer in the world. You do counter-insurgency. You hunt ghosts for a living! You can beat him!"

There was a long pause on the phone. Theresa heard the faint sound of a keyboard typing in the background. 

"Yes," Vane finally said. His boring voice sounded a tiny bit excited. "Yes, I can beat him. The Apex uses brutal force and engineering. He is a hammer. But I am a scalpel. I accept your contract, Theresa."

Theresa let out a long breath. "Thank you. When can you get here? There are four men outside my door."

"I am already in the city," Vane said. "Go to the corner of the bathroom. Sit on the floor. Do not stand up until I open the door."

Click. The call ended. 

Theresa put the tiny phone back into her pocket. She crawled to the far corner of the marble bathroom. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She waited. 

Outside the bedroom, in the massive living room, Griggs was standing perfectly still. 

Suddenly, his white earpiece beeped loudly. 

Griggs raised his hand and pressed his finger against the earpiece. "Yes, Sir," Griggs said softly. 

He listened for ten seconds. His pale blue eyes stared at the locked bedroom door. 

"I understand," Griggs said. "It will be done quickly and quietly."

He lowered his hand. He looked at the other three guards standing in the room. 

"The Director has finished moving the money," Griggs told his men. "The accounts are wiped clean. Mrs. Sterling is no longer a useful asset. She is a risk."

The three guards nodded. They reached inside their expensive gray jackets. They pulled out thick, black pistols with long silver silencers attached to the barrels. 

Griggs pulled out his own pistol. He checked the magazine. It was full. He screwed a silencer onto the front. 

"I will handle the target," Griggs said coldly. "You three watch the front door and the windows. Nobody comes in. Nobody goes out."