Chapter 13 - Claire’s Final Secret
Adrian wanted to leave immediately.
Claire blocked the wheelchair.
“No.”
“He'll come here.”
“Then security handles it.”
“He escaped federal custody.”
“You just had surgery.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
Daniel entered.
“For once, she's right.”
Adrian looked betrayed.
Daniel smiled.
“Enjoy it.”
Marco arrived moments later.
Keene's transport had been attacked.
Two marshals wounded.
Keene vanished.
Adrian ordered his organization mobilized.
Claire listened.
The man in the wheelchair became the feared boss again.
Calls.
Orders.
Safe houses.
Roadblocks.
Information.
Within an hour, half the city seemed to be looking for Thomas Keene.
Then Claire realized something.
“He isn't running.”
Adrian stopped.
“What?”
“He could have disappeared years ago.”
Daniel understood.
“He wants something.”
“The evidence is already public,” Claire said.
“He can't erase it.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“Revenge.”
Keene had lost everything.
There was only one thing left to take from Ghost.
Claire.
Adrian ordered the hospital evacuated.
Claire protested.
Then a package arrived.
No return address.
Inside was Elena Vale's wedding ring.
Adrian stared.
He had buried it with her.
Keene had opened her grave.
Beneath the ring was an address.
Adrian's old family home.
“He wants me there.”
Claire shook her head.
“It's a trap.”
“Yes.”
“Then don't go.”
Adrian looked at her.
“He'll keep hurting people until I do.”
Claire knelt.
“Then I'm coming.”
“No.”
She smiled sadly.
“We've had this argument before.”
Adrian touched her cheek.
It was the first unmistakably intimate gesture between them.
“Claire.”
She covered his hand.
“I lied to you once.”
“Yes.”
“I'm not doing it again.”
They went together.
Daniel and Marco followed.
The house had been abandoned for years.
Adrian entered alone at first.
Claire ignored his order after thirty seconds.
Inside, photographs of Elena covered the walls.
Keene stood in the living room.
He held no weapon.
That frightened Adrian more.
“You came.”
“It's over, Thomas.”
“Not yet.”
Keene opened his jacket.
Explosives.
Claire froze.
A dead-man switch rested in his hand.
“Everyone leaves with me.”
Adrian moved forward.
Claire grabbed his wheelchair.
Keene smiled.
“You finally found another person to lose.”
Adrian's face changed.
“No.”
He looked at Claire.
“I found someone worth living for.”
Keene's finger tightened.
Daniel shouted from outside.
Marco broke a window.
Claire saw Adrian move.
Everything happened at once.
Adrian threw himself from the wheelchair.
He hit Keene.
The detonator flew.
Claire caught it.
Marco restrained Keene.
Daniel disarmed the explosives.
For several seconds, nobody breathed.
Then Adrian lay on the floor.
Claire ran to him.
“Adrian?”
He looked up.
“I think that was medically irresponsible.”
She laughed and cried simultaneously.
“You idiot.”
“Probably.”
Police arrived.
This time Keene left in chains surrounded by dozens of officers.
No private transport.
No secret route.
No escape.
Claire watched him disappear.
She thought it was finally finished.
Then Daniel approached with a sealed document.
“Claire.”
She looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel's expression was uneasy.
“There is one more thing you need to know.”
He handed her the document.
Claire opened it.
Her eyes reached the final line.
May you like
Then she looked at Adrian.
Because the secret written there could change both of their lives forever.
