2024-10-06 21:50:42
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From Prison Bars To Gold Bars. 23. Marriage Offer
"I initially came here because I had a lunch appointment with a new friend I made, but I'm already too late and I doubt he would still be here. But just in case, why don't I check if he is and if he's not, we can go back to your place.""Okay, but how do you plan on dealing with this mess?" Ivy asked, gesturing at Moses and Bianca. Van sighed and turned his attention back to Moses. "Listen, I have been standing here for way too long and if you don't mind, I'd like to go home."Moses scoffed at his statement. "Do you think this is some kind of joke?! In case you're not aware, you're in a serious trouble here. Not only did you ruin our friend's birthday party and constituted nonsense in such a prestigious hotel, you also threatened me and my fiancee. Do you really think I'm going to let it go?!""He must really think you're joking." Bianca was trying to support Moses but the truth was, she was feeling sad. And as much as she hated to admit it, she felt that way because of Van. He was
From Prison Bars To Gold Bars. 24. Boutique
After the commotion died down, Van and Ivy left the hotel but rather than going right back to her place, they went to a nearby restaurant to talk. "First of all Ivy, let me apologize for all that transpired between us. Normally, I'm not the type of guy that would do anything to hurt a woman and honestly, asides from Bianca, you're the only other woman I've ever been with. I'm not trying to praise myself or anything, I just want you to know that I'm not a bad person.""Yeah, I hink I know that now." Ivy didn't want to admit it but Van felt like the perfect father figure for her kids. In fact, she was almost glad to have someone like him as their father. "Not to be rude or anything but you need a change of outfit. I wouldn't want our kids to see you wearing that."When she said 'our kids' rather than 'my kids', Van felt a warmness in his heart. He was a father, for real. It wasn't a joke or a prank, he really was a father. It was overwhelming but at the same time…pleasant. "Yeah, I fi
From Prison Bars To Gold Bars. 25. A Gift From The Heart
Van was surprised to find another of his classmates at the boutique. It felt like he had seen almost all the people he went to school with. "Jessica?""Oh wow, if it isn't my old classmate. It's been a while, hasn't it?""Yes. It really has. Have you been well?""I think that is pretty obvious. Don't you?""Well that's nice.""Would you let go of the poor security now? It's a bit rude to rough handle him like hat. Don't you think?"Back when they were in school, Jessica wasn't one of the Queen Bs but she came from an averagely okay family. Both her parents had to work hard to support her educational needs and she did her best to stand out from other students. Lacking in both fame and wealth, Jessica decided to stand out with brilliance. But even that was difficult for her, and so Van took on the job of tutoring her after class and during weekends. They never actually became close friends but among the others, she was the least annoying. Looking at her now, Van wasn't so sure if she
From Prison Bars To Gold Bars. 26. Van, A Mystery
Before Ivy got pregnant, her grandmother had arranged for her to get married. "But grandma, I can't possibly get married now, I'm only nineteen! There are so many things I would rather be doing with my life than planning a wedding.""Ivy, listen to me. As a businesswoman, I understand the idea of wanting to improve in what you do. I understand the way you feel, you want to make a name for yourself in the business world, you want to become the best at this. And I think I know why.""Look grandma, I really don't –""This is because of your grandfather, am I right? You feel bad about what happened to him so you want to live up to his legacy and probably even surpass it. You want to prove to your father that you are more than just the child of a mistress. Isn't it?Well sweetie, I understand that. But the longer you stay single, the more people begin to speculate that maybe you're just like your mother.""And what is so wrong with being like my mother?!" Ivy was always on the defensive w
From Prison Bars To Gold Bars. 27. The Promise
Ivy didn't know what to say, she just stood there, frozen in shock. Did he actually make the transfer? It couldn't be a fake alert right? There was no way Van would try to dupe someone like that…even if Pharrell was a huge asshole. But where on earth would he get such a huge amount of money?Pharrell and Jessica couldn't hide their surprises either. Their eyes were glued to the phone, reading the alert message over and over again. "I…impossible! This must be some kind of trick." Pharrell said, facing Van. "There is no way that a sorry looking person like you could ever afford such anount of money. This must be a fake alert!""Yes… that's true." Jessica agreed. "Even before he went to prison, Van was a nobody. And for the past five years, he has been in prison. So tell me, where does a prisoner get this much money?""A fake alert huh? Very well then. Shall we confirm? But keep in mind, once it's clear that it's real, you'll have to apologize to me and my wife for insulting us in publ
From Prison Bars To Gold Bars. 28. New Van
As Van walked through the little gates of his mother house, he noticed her standing by the door, a worried expression on her face. "Oh goodness me, you had been gone for so long that I was starting to worry." She said as he let himself into the little house. "Sorry about that mom, it has been a very long day. And in the end, I couldn't even get any shopping done. But it's alright, because I got something even better." He announced with a smile. "Oh? And that might that be?""Mom, we're moving out of this place.""What?"On his way back home, Van had placed a call to his chauffeur and asked him to contact an agent that could provide a new, comfortable place where he could raise a family. He was going to have to get permission from Ivy for that, but he just decided to get the place first. "I know it's shocking, but I want you to know that your son isn't doing anything illegal." That alone would not suffice as an explanation for his mother, and he knew that. "I met someone, a woman.
From Prison Bars To Gold Bars. 29. Elaine
Elaine decided to go shopping to clear her mind. She hadn't been able to get Van out of her mind. To think that he would boldly turn down the offer to marry a woman like her, and in front of people too! The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. What did Ivy have that she didn't? Was it beauty? She was very beautiful, and she wasn't just praising herself. Different companies had approached her with various offers for her to become the face of their products. She had even reached the top five of most beautiful woman every year for three years in a row. Was it intellect?She graduated at the top of her class in highschool and college. Her father was always commending her on how she was doing a good job managing his business. She had even come up with some ideas that fetched millions for her father's business. Or was it wealth? It was no secret that her family was filthy rich. And everything her parents owned also belonged to her. Plus, she could say that she helped in gett
From Prison Bars To Gold Bars. 30. Family
After getting their outfits and jeweleries, they were done. They got a taxi all the way back to Oakland and made their way to Ivy's residence. When they got there, Van suddenly started to feel nervous, like he was going for a job interview or auditioning for a movie role. He cleared his throat as he knocked on her door. A couple of seconds later, the door was opened and behind it, a little girl with a few missing teeth smiled at him. "Are you my daddy?" She asked, a confused expression on her face. "Yes. Yes I am." Van replied with a soft smile. "Mommy! Mommy!! It's daddy, daddy's here." She announced with an enthusiastic excitement, running from the front door over to Ivy and back. "Daddy?" A little boy stared at Van, and tears began streaming down his face. "Is daddy going to get a hug?" Van went down on his knees and opened his arms, hoping the kids didn't actually hate him for not being around all those years. Taking one cautious step after the other, both kids approached h
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220. The Raid
The black SUV tore through the city streets, weaving between cars and running red lights.Rain slapped against the windshield in heavy sheets, turning the world into a blur of lights and shadows.Van sat in the passenger seat, jaw tight, fingers tapping a restless rhythm on his knee.Beside him, Keller drove like a man possessed, silent and focused.Carla sat in the back, double-checking the blueprints of the warehouse on her tablet."Franklin and Third," she muttered."Two floors. Old textile plant. Abandoned for years. No security cameras, no neighbors — perfect place to stash someone."Van’s stomach twisted.It was too perfect.He kept flashing back to Vance’s words: If they think you’re coming, they’ll move her—or worse.He couldn't afford to think about what worse meant.Not now.Not when they were this close.They arrived in less than fifteen minutes.The warehouse loomed out of the mist like a dead thing — gray, crumbling, windows shattered, rust eating through the metal doors.
219. Confession
The air inside the van was thick with tension.Julian Vance sat slumped against the wall, wrists cuffed to a metal ring bolted to the floor.The blindfold was gone, but fear had carved deep lines into his face.Sweat soaked through his shirt despite the cold night air.Across from him, Van leaned back in his seat, arms crossed, studying him like a puzzle that needed solving.Keller sat beside Van, silent and looming, while Carla hovered near the door, tablet in hand, recording everything.No one spoke for a long moment.They let the fear do its work first.Vance fidgeted, his eyes darting from face to face, looking for a crack, a kindness.He found none.Finally, Keller broke the silence."You know who we are," he said calmly."You know why you’re here."Vance licked his lips."I—I’m just an accountant," he stammered."I don’t know anything."Keller smiled thinly."You know enough to get yourself killed. Or saved. Your choice."Vance’s hands twisted in the cuffs."I can’t," he whisper
218. The Aftermath
The night was soaked in the heavy stench of gunpowder and rain.Sirens howled in the distance — getting closer — but Agent Keller’s team moved fast.They swept the abandoned lot, securing what little evidence Moses had left behind: a few casings, tire tracks gouged deep into the mud, a broken phone.It wasn’t enough.Moses had disappeared like a phantom into the night, and worse — he had seen through the setup.Van had barely made it out alive.Inside the mobile command van, Keller slammed his fist against the table."Someone tipped him off," he growled."There’s no way he walked into that meeting with backup unless he knew we were coming."Carla sat beside Van, wrapping a makeshift bandage around his bleeding arm.Her hands were steady, but her face was grim.Van winced as the gauze tightened, but he barely felt the pain.His mind was somewhere else.A traitor.Someone inside their circle.Someone who had sold them out to Moses.Keller paced furiously, barking orders into his radio,
217. The Hunt
The plan was simple on paper.Simple, but dangerous.Van stood at the cracked concrete window of a forgotten motel room on the edge of the city, watching the rain smear the world into gray blurs.Inside the room, Agent Keller was setting up equipment — laptops, burner phones, tiny recorders the size of coins — while Carla scribbled notes furiously into a weathered notebook.Van’s nerves hummed under his skin.He wasn’t a cop.He wasn’t a spy.He was just a man trying to survive.And now, somehow, he was about to help bring down one of the most powerful men in the city."Here’s the plan," Keller said, pulling Van’s attention back.He laid out a rough blueprint of the next 48 hours:Van would reach out to Moses — casual, non-threatening — suggest a meeting under the pretense of "burying the hatchet."Offer him information.Play on his paranoia.The idea was to draw Moses out.Get him somewhere isolated.Somewhere they could grab him without witnesses.If they could catch Moses talking —
216. Warehouse Meeting
Van’s mind was spinning as he approached the dilapidated warehouse by the docks.The wind whipped at his coat, the sound of waves crashing against the concrete pier mixing with the distant hum of city traffic.This place had once been a hub of activity, a center of trade and industry.Now, it was just a hollow skeleton, abandoned and forgotten.Perfect.It was the kind of place where you could disappear without a trace.Van approached cautiously, his footsteps echoing in the empty street.The docks were deserted at this hour, save for a few stray cats rummaging through trash.No sign of anyone watching.But he knew better than to assume that meant safety.They were out there.Someone was always watching.His fingers brushed against the rough stone of the warehouse’s exterior as he rounded the corner.A single light flickered above the entrance, casting long, crooked shadows.A thick metal door was ajar, just enough to let him slip inside.Van hesitated for a moment, then pushed it ope
215. Late Warning
The city looked different in the dead of night.From the back of the taxi, Van saw it all pass in a blur — the glimmering skyline, the fog rolling across the river, the endless rows of apartments stacked up like cheap cardboard boxes.But it was the shadows he saw most clearly.The places where people hid their sins.Van rubbed his fingers over the cracked screen of Bianca’s phone.The evidence was still fresh in his mind — too fresh. The videos, the photos, the recordings.He hadn’t even begun to process it all.But he couldn’t stop now.He couldn’t let them win.The taxi rolled to a stop at the airport’s long-term parking lot.Van didn’t get out.Instead, he stared through the windshield at the flickering terminal lights, his thoughts spiraling.Was this it?Was he about to leave everything behind?Ivy, the kids, his life as he knew it?He couldn’t.He wouldn’t.But he also couldn’t stay.He needed allies.Van stepped out of the taxi and paid the driver in cash before walking throug
214. Secrets
Van didn’t go straight home. He knew better. If they were watching him — and after tonight, he was sure of it — bringing danger to Ivy and the kids would be unforgivable. Instead, he drove to a cheap motel on the edge of town, the kind of place nobody asked questions and the cameras were either broken or faked. The neon VACANCY sign buzzed weakly against the rain-soaked sky as Van pulled into the lot. Room 12 smelled like mold and old cigarettes, but it had a lock on the door and curtains thick enough to block the world out. For now, that was enough. He locked the door, jammed a chair under the knob, and dumped the soaked backpack on the stained mattress. He pulled out Bianca’s phone with trembling hands. Still wet. Still cracked. Still hers. Van sat down heavily and got to work. First step: dry the phone. He stripped it carefully, removing the battered SIM card and the microSD tucked into the side. Both small enough to fit in his wallet. He left the phone shell near
213. Hidden Tunnels
The marina was deserted. The storm had driven everyone indoors, and the usual hum of yacht engines and tourist chatter was replaced by the howl of the wind against steel masts. Boats bobbed violently in the dark water, their ropes creaking like dying animals. Van parked three blocks away and approached on foot, keeping to the shadows. The piece of paper with the coordinates was damp in his pocket, but he had already memorized them. The entrance to the old service tunnels wasn’t easy to find. Most people didn’t even know they existed — relics from when the marina had been part of a naval shipyard decades ago. Now, the city had simply built over them, sealing the past under concrete and forgetting. But Van remembered. His father had worked the shipyards once, before everything went wrong. He found the access point tucked behind a rusted utility shed — a heavy steel hatch, half-hidden by tangled vines. He tugged at the handle. Locked. Van gritted his teeth, pulled a crowbar
212. Meeting In The Rain
The storm didn’t let up.It pounded the city in thick, angry sheets, flooding gutters, choking the storm drains, turning alleyways into rivers of filth.Van watched it from the living room window, one hand curled around a cold cup of coffee.He hadn’t slept.He couldn’t.Not with the bloody scrap locked away in his desk drawer.Not with Ivy pretending everything was fine for the kids’ sake.At 2:37 a.m., his phone buzzed again.Unknown Number.Van snatched it up.A text this time.MEET ME.PARKER’S GARAGE. 4AM. COME ALONE.No signature.No instructions.But Van already knew he was going.★★★Parker’s Garage was an old, abandoned auto shop on the east side, gutted years ago after a fire.Van remembered it from his teenage years — a place where kids would go to drink, fight, and hide from the world.He drove through the drowned streets, headlights cutting through the rain like a blade.The city felt deserted, haunted.Every instinct told him this was a trap.He went anyway.He pulled up
