Chapter 5 - The Last Dance
Sunrise turned Chicago’s skyline gray.
Claire entered Ashford Tower carrying the ledger.
Robert walked beside her.
Mercer had wanted tactical officers.
Claire refused anything visible.
If Adrian's kidnappers saw police, they might kill him.
Richard waited in the lobby.
When he saw the photograph, he went pale.
“My wife?”
Claire watched him carefully.
“Either Victoria is involved or they want us to think she is.”
Richard shook his head.
“She wouldn't hurt Adrian.”
“People said my father wouldn't let me believe he was dead.”
Robert absorbed the blow silently.
They took the elevator to the ballroom.
The room looked completely different in daylight.
Empty glasses remained from the gala.
Flowers sagged.
The dance floor where Claire had revealed herself hours earlier now looked like a stage after the audience had vanished.
Adrian sat in the center.
Tied.
Alive.
Victoria stood behind him.
“Mom,” Adrian said, “tell them.”
Victoria was crying.
“I’m sorry.”
Richard stepped forward.
“What have you done?”
“Saved our son.”
A man emerged from the shadows.
Claire recognized him from old competition photographs.
Daniel Cross.
Former international ballroom judge.
Gerald Ashford's closest associate.
Presumed retired.
Robert whispered, “He's the one.”
Daniel smiled.
“Finally.”
Claire held the ledger.
“You sabotaged the car.”
Daniel shrugged.
“Gerald ordered a warning. His mechanic was overly enthusiastic.”
“You almost killed us.”
“And yet here you are.”
Marcus entered behind them.
Claire spun.
“What are you doing here?”
Marcus looked ashamed.
Daniel smiled wider.
“He works for me.”
Claire felt something break inside her.
Marcus couldn't meet her eyes.
“You lied again.”
“I kept you alive.”
“By working for him?”
“I monitored you.”
“For twelve years?”
“Yes.”
Claire stared.
Every coincidence.
Every unexplained sense of being watched.
Marcus had been there.
Daniel held out his hand.
“The ledger.”
Claire didn't move.
Daniel tightened a cord around Adrian's wrists.
Victoria flinched.
“Give it to him.”
Claire looked at Adrian.
His face was bruised.
But his eyes were steady.
“Don't.”
Richard stepped forward.
Daniel's man raised a gun.
Richard stopped.
Claire held up the ledger.
“You want it?”
“Yes.”
“Then dance with me.”
Daniel blinked.
Even Adrian looked confused.
Claire walked toward the center of the floor.
“You spent your life fixing competitions because you couldn't control talent. You bought judges. Threatened dancers. Destroyed careers.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“So let's finish where it started.”
She dropped the ledger onto the floor.
“One dance.”
Daniel laughed.
“What does that accomplish?”
“Maybe nothing.”
Claire lifted her arms.
“But five hundred people watched you people humiliate a maid last night. Millions have seen the video by now.”
Daniel's expression shifted.
Claire continued.
“The cameras are still streaming.”
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
A red light blinked.
He swore.
Richard smiled faintly.
Ashford Tower's gala streaming system had never been disabled.
Daniel lunged for the ledger.
Mercer entered.
“Police!”
Chaos erupted.
Daniel’s man raised the gun.
Marcus tackled him.
A shot fired into the ceiling.
Victoria pulled Adrian's chair sideways.
Richard covered them.
Robert grabbed the ledger.
Daniel ran.
Claire followed.
He reached the service corridor.
Then the staircase.
Claire's knee screamed as she descended.
Daniel looked back.
“You're still broken.”
Claire kept moving.
He reached the lower landing.
Claire stopped.
“No.”
Daniel turned.
She wasn't chasing him anymore.
Mercer appeared below.
Officers appeared above.
Daniel was trapped.
His face collapsed.
Claire leaned against the railing.
“My leg was broken.”
She looked directly at him.
“I wasn't.”
Daniel was arrested.
By noon, the ledger was in federal custody.
By evening, reporters surrounded Ashford Tower.
Marcus surrendered voluntarily.
Victoria agreed to testify.
Richard issued a public statement admitting his family's connection to the scandal.
Adrian found Claire alone in the empty ballroom.
“You saved me.”
“Your mother moved the chair.”
“You brought the ledger.”
“I brought a copy.”
Adrian stared.
Claire smiled.
“The original was already with Mercer.”
He laughed.
For the first time in twenty-four hours, Claire did too.
Then his expression softened.
“What happens now?”
“I don't know.”
He stepped closer.
“My father made a ridiculous promise.”
Claire raised an eyebrow.
“If I outdanced your mother?”
“You could marry me.”
“That may be the least romantic proposal in Chicago history.”
“I wasn't proposing.”
“Good.”
“Yet.”
Claire looked away before he could see her smile.
Then her phone rang.
Sophie Allen.
Claire answered.
Sophie didn't say hello.
“They arrested Daniel Cross.”
“I know.”
“He isn't the head of the network.”
Claire's smile vanished.
“What?”
“I found my mother's last file.”
Claire looked toward Adrian.
Sophie continued.
“Daniel answered to someone else.”
“Who?”
Silence.
Then:
“Robert Bennett.”
Claire slowly turned toward the ballroom doors.
Her father was gone.
On the floor where he had been standing lay Claire's championship medal.
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Beneath it was a note.
I'M SORRY, CLAIRE. THIS WAS ALWAYS BIGGER THAN YOU KNEW.
