Jake ran through frozen ruins, breath fogging in the freezing air. His legs burned but he couldn't stop as a low growl echoed behind him.He glanced back seeing a massive frost wolf emerged from the mist, eyes glowing pale blue, and it charged straight at him.
Jake's legs gave out and he stumbled, hitting the frozen ground hard. The beast was on him in seconds, jaws opening wide suddenly hewoke up, gasping. Sweat soaked through his shirt as he stared at the ceiling, his heart pounding against his ribs. For a long moment he couldn't move, just staring, after a while he sat up and held his head, eyes closed, hands still shaking.
"Another nightmare, the same one as the last time about the frost beast and me dying"
After Calming down he stood and moved to the bathroom sink, turning on the cold water. He splashed it on his face again and again until his hands stopped shaking. His reflection stared back dark circles under bloodshot eyes, jaw tight with tension.
"No turning back now Jake," he muttered. "You still have so much more to do"
After washing up and throwing on a clean T-shirt and jeans, he headed downstairs. The front desk was already busy with Tracy behind the counter, explaining something patiently to a woman who kept shaking her head at a reservation form.
"No ma'am, that rate only applies to weekday bookings," Tracy said, still smiling. "But I can give you a small discount since you're staying three nights."
The woman nodded, satisfied as Jake waited off to the side until Tracy glanced up and spotted him.
"Morning, stranger. You disappear a lot." She greeted him
"Yeah, I just have a lot on my plate these days." He took a seat in the lobby chairs.
She leaned on the counter with a teasing smile. "Yeah, yeah. You always say that. I'm starting to think you're secretly someone important."
"Okay, I confess." Jake raised his hands in mock surrender. "I guess you caught me."
Tracy laughed, the sound bright and easy, then grabbed a takeaway coffee cup and filled it without asking.
"So, you heading out again?" She slid the cup toward him.
"Yeah. Meeting someone."
"Oh, a serious meeting or boring-paperwork meeting?"
"Both."
"Here. You look like you're going to need it." She pushed the coffee closer.
"Thanks." He grabbed it and took a sip, then hesitated. "Also... thanks for not asking too many questions."
Tracy shrugged. "Everyone's fighting something. I don't need details to know that."
He nodded and stood. "I'll be back later in the evening"
"Bye, Mr. Serious Face. Try not to look like you're about to overthrow the government when you walk out."
"No promises." He smiled a bit and left.
.....
The meeting location wasn't the hotel this time. Edward had chosen a quiet members' lounge attached to an old business club downtown, not far from the motel.
Jake arrived a few minutes early and surveyed the lounge leather chairs, dark wood tables looking round before he spotted him.. Edward sat in the corner reading through a thin file,only looking up as Jake approached.
"Jake."
"Edward."
They shook hands and Edward gestured to the seat across from him. "Have a sit."
Jake sat down facing him
"I won't take much of your time," Edward began, his face grave. "I've seen the paperwork you filed."
"Figured you would."
"But the Carlsons won't take it quietly."
Jake said nothing with that confident smile still on his face as Edward slid a sealed envelope across the table. "This is why they're getting nervous."
Jake stared at the envelope for somerime before opening it. Inside were copies of financial statements, audit trails, property filings showing his name and late father's signature.
"This is proof of ownership," Edward said, pointing to one document. "Your father transferred majority ownership of Lux Hotel to you before he passed. Angela was assigned temporary management authority not possession."
Jake's jaw tightened and he flipped to the next set of documents. "Are these what I think they are?"
"Yes. Embezzlements , suble and spread out over years, but consistent though they were smart about it, funds diverted through shell accounts."
Jake looked up slowly. "You have kept this from them?"
Edward's eyes grew distant, his fingers drumming once on the armrest. "Your father and I were close friends." His smile was sad. "He told me to hold certain documents in trust. If anything happened, I was to give them to you but only when you were ready."
"Why now?" Jake asked curiousity in his tone
"Because you weren't ready before, you were still under them." Edward leaned forward. "But now you're taking action, filing for annulment even challenging them, You're going to need all the help you can get. So it's time I gave this to you"
Jake leaned back, processing everything he just heard
"They're not just nervous," he said quietly. "They're cornered."
"Yes." Edward's voice lowered. "But I need to warn you, Jake be careful of the Carlsons, Markus especially. He's ambitious and the kind of man who doesn't like losing."
Jake thought of Markus's expression the last time they'd spoken. "Neither do I and I've come too far to back down."
"I wouldn't advise you to." Edward folded his hands. "But understand this once you use those records, there's no reconciliation. It becomes war."
Jake slid the documents back into the envelope. "It's already war."
Edward studied him for a moment, then nodded. "I'll support you publicly if you need it. Quietly for now. Use the embezzlement records strategically we only have one chance to get them ."
"Thank you, Edward."
Edward stood and tapped Jake's shoulder. "No need. Your father would have wanted you prepared."
Then he left.Jake rose with his expression firm and eyes hardened. Instead of heading back to the motel, Jake spent the afternoon at a small café near the financial district. He chose a corner table by the window and spread out the documents as he made plans.. The evidence was damning, the Carlsons must have gotten sloppy.
Hours passed. The sun moved across the window, . His coffee went cold and he ordered another. Outside, the streets filled with people heading home from work, as the sky darkened by the time he looked up, the sky had turned dark purple. He checked his watch. 7 PM.
"Better get going." He looked outside where the sun had set completely, suddenly his phone screen lit up with a message from an unknown number, frowning as he opened it.a photo loaded. The content freezing Jake's heart for a moment as he saw Tracy hands bound behind a chair with a tape across her mouth and eyes closed, blood across her forehead.
His breath caught as he scrolled down to the message:
*You have something that doesn't belong to you. Bring the original hotel records and certificate of ownership to Palm's Dock by 8 PM. Come alone or the pretty lady dies.*
Jake's grip tightened around the phone as his pulse hammered in his ears. A strange cold spread from his chest, creeping down his arms. The temperature in the café seemed to drop as he looked at the time 7:10 pm
Fifty minutes left,he turned his head slowly toward the envelope on the seat beside him. The records that could destroy the Carlsons, everything he needed to win but they had Tracy.
He clenched his fist. Outside the window, frost crept across the glass cup and his phone but Jake didn't notice any of it as he stood up stood up, gathered the files, left cash on the table and walked out into the night.
The street was dark,He flagged down a cab his eyes icy cold
"I'm not losing anybody this time."