The Parking Lot Attendant Who Controlled the Stock Market

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: The Safe House

The address Marcus gave him was in the old part of the city.

Felix drove past rows of abandoned factories and empty warehouses and buildings that had not seen light in decades. The streets were cracked. The streetlights were broken. Nobody came here unless they wanted to hide.

He parked the BMW behind a rusted dumpster and walked the rest of the way.

The building looked like it was about to fall down. Boards on the windows. Graffiti on the walls. A door that hung sideways on one hinge. Felix pushed it open and stepped inside.

The inside was nothing like the outside.

White walls. Clean floors. A desk with three computer screens. A couch that looked expensive. A kitchen with a fridge that hummed quietly. This was not a hideout. This was a command center.

Chloe was sitting on the couch. She was not wearing the red dress. Today she wore black jeans and a black sweater and her hair was pulled back tight. She looked different. Younger. Harder.

"You are late," she said.

"Traffic," Felix said.

She almost smiled. "Traffic. In a parking lot full of abandoned factories. Sure."

Felix sat down across from her. The couch was soft. Too soft. He felt like he was sinking.

"Tell me what happened," Chloe said. "Everything. From the beginning."

Felix told her. About Derek going to Victor. About the fake flash drive. About the gun Victor was about to pull. About the vision and Derek running away and Victor giving him one week.

Chloe listened without moving. Her eyes did not blink. Her hands did not fidget. She was like a statue. A beautiful statue with cold eyes.

When Felix finished, she stood up and walked to the window. The glass was dirty. You could barely see the street outside.

"Derek is dead," she said.

Felix sat up. "What?"

"Not literally. Not yet. But he is dead to us. He cannot be trusted. He went to Victor once. He will go to Victor again. The only question is when."

Felix thought about Derek's bruised face. His split lip. His shaking hands. The man who slapped him was pathetic now. A coward who ran to the monster and begged for mercy.

"He was scared," Felix said.

"Everyone is scared," Chloe said. "That is not an excuse. Fear is a choice. Derek chose to be afraid. He chose to betray you. And now he has made everything harder."

Felix pulled out the coin and looked at it. The eye stared back. The number three stared back.

"I could have let Victor kill him," Felix said. "I saw it in the vision. Victor was about to pull the trigger. Derek was going to die. But I saved him."

"Why?"

Felix looked up. Chloe was staring at him. Her dark eyes were unreadable.

"Because he is still useful," Felix said. "Derek knows things. He knows the trading world. He knows the rich people. He knows how money moves. I need that."

Chloe walked back to the couch and sat down. Close. Too close.

"You are lying," she said. "You saved him because you are not a killer. Not yet. You still think you are one of the good guys."

"I am not one of the good guys," Felix said.

"No. You are not. Good guys do not work for Victor Kensington. Good guys do not make deals with criminals. Good guys do not carry a coin that shows them the future and use it to destroy people."

She leaned closer. Her face was inches from his.

"You are becoming something else, Felix. Something dark. And the question is not whether you can save Derek. The question is whether you can save yourself."

Felix looked away. His heart was beating fast. Not from fear. From something else. Something he did not want to name.

"Where is Marcus?" he asked.

"Marcus is not here. Marcus does not know about this place. Only I know about this place. That is how we stay safe."

Felix nodded. That made sense. If Marcus did not know where the safe house was, he could not tell anyone. Even if someone tortured him.

"The recording," Felix said. "Victor gave me one week. I need to give him something. Something real enough that he believes me."

Chloe stood up and walked to the desk. She opened a drawer and pulled out a small device. A voice recorder. Old. Scratched.

"This is the real recording," she said. "Victor's voice. The admission of fraud. Everything he said to Marcus in that office six months ago."

She held it out to Felix.

"You cannot give him this. But you can give him a copy. A partial copy. Enough to prove you found something. Enough to buy time."

Felix took the recorder. It was heavier than he expected.

"How much of it?" he asked.

"Ten seconds. Enough to hear Victor's voice. Enough to hear him admit to lying to investors. But not enough to destroy him. Not yet."

Felix put the recorder in his pocket next to the coin.

"What happens after I give him the partial copy?" he asked.

Chloe sat back down on the couch. She crossed her legs. Her eyes were on him again.

"Victor will want more. He will want to know where the rest is. He will push you. Test you. Try to break you. That is when you will find out if you are strong enough."

"And if I am not?"

Chloe smiled. It was not a warm smile. It was a sad smile. A knowing smile.

"Then you die. Or worse. You become him."

Felix stood up. He had heard enough.

"I will call you when it is done," he said.

He walked toward the door.

"Felix," Chloe called out.

He stopped but did not turn around.

"Be careful with that coin," she said. "I have been watching you. You use it too much. I can see it in your eyes. The light is fading."

Felix touched his face. His eyes felt tired. His head felt heavy.

"How do you know about the coin?" he asked.

Chloe was quiet for a moment. Then she said something that made his blood go cold.

"Because I used to have one too."

Felix turned around. His heart was pounding. "What?"

Chloe stood up and walked toward him. Her face was close again. Her dark eyes were full of something he could not read.

"Three seconds," she said. "That is what mine showed me too. But I used it too much and it stopped working. The coin went cold. The future went dark. And I was left with nothing but the memories of what I could have done."

She reached out and touched his cheek. Her fingers were warm.

"You still have time," she said. "You can still stop before it is too late. But you will not. Because you are hungry. And hungry people do not stop. They just eat until there is nothing left."

She pulled her hand away and walked back to the couch.

"Go," she said. "Do what you need to do. But remember. The coin is not a gift. It is a loan. And loans have to be paid back."

Felix walked out of the building and into the dark street. The air was cold. His head was spinning.

Chloe had a coin. Once. She had the same power. And now it was gone.

What happened to her? What happened to the coin? What happened to the future she saw?

He flipped the coin one more time.

Three seconds.

He saw himself in a room. White walls. A bed. A machine beeping. His own face on the pillow. Pale. Still. Dying.

The vision ended.

Felix put the coin away and got in the BMW.

His hands were shaking.

The coin was not just a tool. It was a countdown.

And the clock was ticking.

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