Angela burst through the sliding glass doors, her designer trench coat dripping with rain. The manager, trembling so violently his ID lanyard rattled, scrambled backward. “M-Mrs. Whitmore! I swear, I had no idea he was—”
Angela didn’t even look at him. She marched straight to Daniel.
In a flash, Daniel’s pathetic, hunched posture vanished. He stood up straight, his shoulders broad, the helpless glint in his eye replaced by a cold, calculating steel.
“Did you get it?” Angela demanded, her voice taut with anxiety.
“He almost aborted the transaction,” Daniel replied, his voice crisp and authoritative—completely stripped of the broken father persona.
Emily watched in paralyzed shock as Daniel grabbed the heavy plastic milk jug. He didn’t unscrew the cap. Instead, he gripped the base, twisted hard, and cracked the false bottom completely off.
Not a single drop of milk spilled.
Instead, a waterproof, vacuum-sealed pouch dropped onto the conveyor belt. Inside rested three encrypted flash drives and a thick stack of offshore wire transfer receipts.
The manager’s pale face turned a sickening, ghostly gray. Realizing his massive embezzlement ring was exposed, he lunged desperately for the counter to grab the drives. But Daniel was faster. With terrifying precision, he grabbed the manager’s wrist, twisted it, and slammed him face-first against the checkout lane.
“Sophie is secure,” Daniel spoke calmly into his smartphone. “Move in. We have the skimmed ledgers.”
Red and blue sirens instantly flooded the rainy parking lot, violently illuminating the store windows.
Angela turned to the bewildered cashier, sliding a pristine gold keycard across the scanner. “You passed the integrity test, Emily. As of tonight, this location needs a new district manager. You start Monday.”
Daniel adjusted his wet jacket and winked at the stunned girl. “Oh, and Emily? Someone really needs to mop up aisle four.”