How to Tame a Silver Fox – Episode 43
Harper stopped inside the chapel doors. Bryan should have been in custody, yet he sat beneath the stained-glass windows wearing clean clothes and the confidence of a man who believed the system still belonged to him.
“Cross signed my release order,” Bryan explained. “Apparently the evidence against me developed problems.”
Harper’s transmitter remained active beneath her collar. Chris could hear every word, but she did not look toward the doors or reveal that rescue waited nearby.
“What does Cross want?” she asked.
Bryan rose and moved into the aisle. He wanted Caroline’s unencrypted files and proof that Harper had separated from Chris. Cross believed emotional isolation would make her easier to pressure.
“You never understood me,” Harper said. “Being alone used to frighten me. It doesn’t anymore.”
Bryan’s smile tightened. He reached for her arm, repeating the gesture he once used to end every argument. Harper stepped aside before he could touch her.
Chris’s voice came quietly through the earpiece. “Your choice.” He would enter if she asked, but he would not take the decision from her.
Harper told him to wait. Bryan had not yet revealed where Cross was or how the payment would move.
She pretended resentment toward Chris, claiming his protection had become another prison. Bryan relaxed when her words matched the rumor Cross planted.
“I knew you’d get tired of grandpa,” he said. “Cross can make the charges disappear. Give him the drive, and your life goes back to normal.”
Harper asked where the exchange would occur. Bryan named an abandoned rail depot beyond campus, then reached inside his jacket.
Chris entered before the weapon cleared the fabric. He pinned Bryan against the pew with controlled force, while university police secured the exits.
Bryan laughed even with his face against the wood. “You just proved Cross right. She can’t take one step without you controlling it.”
“I told him to wait,” Harper said. “I also told him when to move.” The distinction erased Bryan’s final attempt to reduce her.
Police found a phone containing Cross’s instructions and a digital copy of the fraudulent release order. Bryan had traded testimony against Sebastian for freedom, never realizing Cross planned to sacrifice him again.
Maria traced the phone to a relay near the rail depot. The signal remained active, suggesting Cross expected Bryan to deliver Harper before the afternoon transfer.
Chris wanted Bryan returned to federal custody, but Harper insisted on local officers and a public record. Cross could not erase another arrest hidden inside his own agency.
As Bryan was led away, he turned toward Harper with genuine fear. “Cross knows about the house rules,” he said. “Someone inside Chris’s team has been listening since the night you wrote them.”
Chris checked the private channel. One of his security officers had stopped responding—and that officer was currently guarding Mark.