[ Paris - Next Day, 09:00 AM ]
My office wasn't located in a glass tower at La Défense. It sat in an old industrial building in Eastern Paris, a place where the walls still bled machine oil and the shadows grew thicker than anywhere else.
I sat behind my massive oak desk, eyes fixed on the entrance. At nine o'clock sharp, the heavy metal door creaked open.
Selin Sinclair walked in as if she owned the place. Her heels clicked against the raw concrete with military precision. She wore an impeccable black suit, but her eyes betrayed a sleepless night. She was flanked by two men in suits, her father's gorillas.
Elias: "Leave your guards at the door, Selin. I don't bite... unless I'm asked to."
Selin gave a sharp nod to her men, who stepped back before closing the door. She approached alone, stopping two meters from my desk. She refused to sit.
Selin: "I'll be brief. Here is the full file. Time, location, damages. The victim is a forty-year-old woman, a nurse. She's in a coma."
She threw a folder onto my desk. I didn't even open it. I preferred to keep my eyes locked on hers.
Elias: "A nurse. Julian really has a sense of timing. Hitting a saint right before a stock merger... it's almost genius."
Selin: (Gritting her teeth) "Don't play games with me, Elias. My father sent me because he thinks you're the best at making things disappear. What is your price?"
I rose slowly. From my height of six-foot-three, I saw her gaze flicker for a fraction of a second before turning back to ice.
Elias: "Your father's money doesn't interest me, Selin. He already tried to buy me twenty years ago... he couldn't afford me then, and he can't afford me now."
Selin: "Everyone has a price. Tell me what you want and let's be done with it. I hate this place and I hate your arrogance even more."
Elias: "I have only one condition. To save your brother, I must enter your world. I want an office at the Sinclair headquarters... and I want you to be my sole intermediary. No advisors, no bodyguards. Just you and me."
Selin: (Laughing nervously) "You're insane. You want to infiltrate our company? And you think I'm going to serve as your guide?"
Elias: "I'm not asking for a guide, Selin. I'm asking for your full collaboration. If a single piece of information leaves our duo, or if your father tries to interfere, I hand the file to the police. To save Julian, you will have to be my shadow... and I have a very particular shadow."
Selin's face went pale. She realized I wasn't bluffing.
Selin: "Why are you doing this? Why us?"
Elias: "Let's just say I like challenges. And I like to see how people like you react when their world starts to burn."
She took a long moment to respond. I could see the internal struggle on her face. Loyalty against disgust.
Selin: "Fine. But if you try to double-cross us, Elias... I swear I'll be the last thing you see before you die."
Elias: "That's the most romantic thing I've heard in a long time. See you tomorrow, Selin. At the headquarters."
She turned and left without a backward glance. I sat back down and finally opened the folder. It wasn't about the nurse. It was about the name of the witness listed in the report. A name I had been waiting to cross off for twenty years.
The wolf was finally in the sheepfold.