The Boss

Jake Morrison's POV

Jake slammed on the brakes as Emma's voice crackled through the police radio, screaming about evidence in City Hall basement. His heart felt like it was being ripped apart hearing his little cousin in so much terror.

"We have to save her," Jake said, gripping the steering wheel so hard his hands turned white.

"Jake, it's a trap," Maya said from the passenger seat. "Phoenix knows we'll do anything to save Emma. That's exactly what he's counting on."

Jake knew Maya was right, but Emma was just a twelve-year-old girl. She didn't deserve to die because of Phoenix's war against his family.

"Box number seven," Jake repeated. "Emma said the evidence is in box number seven at City Hall."

"What if she's wrong? What if Phoenix made her say that to lure us into another trap?"

Before Jake could answer, Phoenix's voice came through the radio again, cold and threatening: "Jake Morrison, I know you can hear me. I have your cousin Emma. If you want her to live through the night, you'll bring me what your real father hid. You have one hour."

Jake grabbed the radio with shaking hands. "Where's the meeting?"

"The old church cemetery. Where your real father is buried. Fitting, don't you think?"

The radio went quiet, and Jake felt sick to his stomach. Phoenix was making him choose between finding his father's hidden proof and saving Emma's life.

But maybe there was another way.

"Maya, we're going to City Hall first. If Emma found real proof in that basement, we need to get it before Phoenix does."

"What about the cemetery meeting?"

"We'll worry about that after we have proof of Phoenix's crimes."

Jake drove through the empty streets toward City Hall, trying to think of a plan that could save Emma without getting them all killed.

But as they got closer to the courthouse square, Jake saw something that made his blood run cold.

A black SUV was parked in front of City Hall.

"Someone's already there," Maya whispered.

Jake parked across the street behind some trees where they could watch without being seen.

"Look," Maya pointed toward the building. "Someone's coming out."

A tall man in an expensive suit walked down the courtroom steps, carrying a cardboard box. Even from across the street, Jake could tell the man was in charge. The way he moved, the way other people stepped aside for him.

This had to be Phoenix.

But as the man got closer to a streetlight, Jake got a clear look at his face and felt like his world was spinning out of control.

He knew that face.

Not from Millbrook. From the FBI files he'd found in his father's evidence boxes.

"Maya," Jake whispered, his voice shaking. "I know who that is."

"Who?"

Jake's hands were trembling as he pulled out one of the photos from his backpack. It showed two young FBI agents shaking hands with their supervisor after graduating from the school.

One of the managers was Thomas Morrison - Jake's real father.

The other agent was labeled "Marcus Webb - Missing, presumed dead."

"That's Marcus Webb," Jake said, pointing at the guy walking toward the black SUV. "He was my father's partner twenty years ago."

Maya looked at the picture, then at the man across the street. "But the file says he died in a car crash."

"The file is wrong. Marcus Webb didn't die in a car crash. He became Phoenix."

Jake felt pieces of the puzzle clicking into place in his mind. His real father and Marcus Webb had been researching corruption in small towns. They'd found the network of corrupt judges and sheriffs that stretched across multiple states.

But instead of reporting their findings, Marcus Webb had chosen to take control of the network himself.

"He killed my father," Jake realized. "Then he took his place as Phoenix and spent twenty years expanding the operation."

"But why did he let you live? Why try to be your father instead of just killing you too?"

"Because he needed me. My real father hid something that Marcus couldn't find on his own. Something that could destroy the entire Phoenix network."

Maya grabbed Jake's arm. "The master file your fake father mentioned. Bank records and contact information for corrupt leaders in thirty states."

"Exactly. Marcus has been waiting twenty years for me to lead him to it."

Across the street, Marcus Webb finished putting the box into his SUV and pulled out his phone.

Jake and Maya ducked lower behind the trees, but they could still hear his voice clearly.

"The evidence is secured," Marcus was saying. "All the photographs and papers from the Morrison girl's discovery. We now have everything Thomas Morrison collected over three years."

Jake's heart sank. Emma had found the proof, but Marcus Webb had gotten to it first.

"What about the boy?" Marcus continued his phone call. "Is the cemetery prepared?"

There was a pause while he listened to whoever was on the other end.

"Good. Make sure the shooters have clear sight lines. Jake Morrison walks into that graveyard, but he doesn't walk out."

Maya grabbed Jake's hand. "We can't go to that grave. It's a death trap."

"I have to. Emma's life rests on it."

"Jake, think about this logically. If Marcus Webb gets the master file, he wins everything. Emma dies anyway, along with Tommy, Danny, and everyone else who knows the truth."

Jake knew Maya was right, but his heart was breaking thinking about Emma being held prisoner by those monsters.

That's when Marcus Webb did something that changed everything.

He looked straight across the street at Jake and Maya's hiding spot.

And smiled.

A cold, knowing smile that sent ice through Jake's veins.

Marcus Webb had known they were there the whole time.

He'd been putting on a show for their benefit, letting them catch his phone conversation.

"Maya," Jake whispered desperately. "We need to run. Now."

But it was too late.

Marcus Webb was already crossing the street toward them, and Jake could see other forms moving in the shadows around them.

They were trapped.

"Jake Morrison," Marcus Webb called out as he got closer. "Twenty years I've been waiting to meet you properly."

Jake and Maya tried to back away, but there was nowhere to go.

"You look just like your father," Marcus added. "Same stubborn eyes. Same foolish idea that you can fight a system bigger than yourself."

"You murdered my father," Jake said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"I did what was necessary. Thomas was going to destroy something beautiful we'd built together. A network that brought order to chaos, that made hard choices weak people couldn't make."

"You mean a network that murdered innocent people for money."

Marcus Webb shrugged. "Innocent is a relative term, Jake. Everyone has secrets. Everyone has sins. We just decided which sins deserved punishment."

Maya stepped forward bravely. "What do you want from us?"

"The same thing I've always wanted. The master file your father hid before I killed him."

"We don't know where it is," Jake lied.

Marcus Webb's smile got wider and more scary.

"Of course you do, Jake. You've always known where it is. You just didn't know you knew."

"What does that mean?"

"It means your father was very smart. He hid the most important proof in the one place I could never search without arousing suspicion."

Jake felt his stomach drop as he realized what Marcus Webb was talking about.

"He hid it with you, didn't he? Something he gave you when you were a child. Something you've carried with you all these years, never knowing its true value."

Jake's hand instinctively went to the chain around his neck - the chain that held his father's class ring, the ring he'd worn every day since he was eight years old.

Marcus Webb's eyes followed the movement, and his smile became triumphant.

"There it is. Twenty years I've been waiting for you to lead me to that ring."

"It's just a college ring," Jake argued, but his voice sounded weak even to himself.

"No, Jake. It's a mini SD card disguised as a college ring. Your father was a genius at hiding things in plain sight."

Marcus Webb held out his hand.

"Give me the ring, Jake, and I'll let Emma live. Refuse, and she dies screaming while you watch."

Jake looked at Maya, then at the ring that had been his most precious possession since youth.

Everything his real father had died trying to protect was hidden inside that ring.

If he gave it to Marcus Webb, the Phoenix network would be unbeatable.

If he didn't give it up, Emma would die.

But as Jake started to reach for the chain around his neck, something happened that no one expected.

Police sirens started wailing in the background.

Lots of police sounds.

Coming from different directions.

Marcus Webb's confident smile faltered for the first time.

"That's impossible," he mumbled, pulling out his radio. "All units, report status."

Static.

No word from any of his people.

The sirens were getting louder.

"Sir," came a frightened voice through Marcus Webb's radio. "FBI officers are swarming the cemetery. They knew about the plan. Someone told them."

Marcus Webb's face went pale.

"How is that possible?"

Jake looked at Maya and saw her smile for the first time all night.

"Emma," Maya said quietly. "Emma must have called someone before they caught her."

The sirens were now close enough that Jake could see flashing lights bouncing off buildings.

Marcus Webb knew he was trapped, but his eyes were still fixed on Jake's ring with desperate hunger.

"Give me that ring, or I'll kill you right here, right now," he growled.

But before Jake could reply, a voice boomed through a loudspeaker: "FBI! Marcus Webb, you are trapped! Release the hostages and surrender immediately!"

Marcus Webb's twenty-year plan was coming apart around him.

But a desperate, trapped criminal was the most dangerous kind of enemy.

And Jake was standing three feet away from him.