Chapter 12 - The Woman in White Chose a Side
Penny intended to go.
Declan intended to stop her.
They argued for twenty minutes.
Margaret finally shouted louder than both.
“Enough!”
Silence.
“You are behaving exactly as Arthur expects.”
Penny looked at her.
Margaret pointed at the note.
“He wants Penny alone because he thinks she’s still the frightened girl I raised.”
Penny absorbed that.
Margaret continued.
“Let him.”
The plan was simple.
Which meant Declan hated it.
Penny would appear alone.
She would carry Eleanor’s ring.
Declan’s people would remain outside Arthur’s expected perimeter.
Vanessa would coordinate the operation.
Vanessa arrived from the hospital against medical advice.
Her arm was in a sling.
Declan stared.
“You were shot.”
“I noticed.”
“You should be in bed.”
“My father kidnapped a woman and murdered yours. I’ll sleep later.”
Penny almost smiled.
Arthur chose an old Gallagher shipping terminal.
At 11:58, Penny entered alone.
Arthur waited beside Eleanor.
A gun pressed against her ribs.
“You came.”
“You knew I would.”
“Ring.”
Penny held it up.
“Mom first.”
Arthur smiled.
“You sound like Margaret.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You shouldn’t.”
Penny looked at Eleanor.
Her mother gave the smallest shake of her head.
Arthur wanted something more.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He laughed.
“Smart girl.”
He needed Penny to sign ownership documents.
The rings and ledger mattered less now.
With his network collapsing, Arthur wanted control of Penny’s Gallagher shares.
He placed documents on a crate.
“Sign.”
“No.”
Arthur pressed the gun harder against Eleanor.
Penny picked up the pen.
She remembered being Liam’s assistant.
Contracts passed through her hands every day.
Executives rarely read them.
Penny always did.
She scanned the page.
Then laughed.
Arthur frowned.
“What?”
“You used the wrong corporate charter.”
His face changed.
“This version expired in 2004.”
“Sign it.”
“It won’t transfer anything.”
“Sign.”
Penny did.
Arthur grabbed the papers.
For one second, his gun moved away from Eleanor.
That was enough.
Vanessa stepped from behind a container.
“Dad.”
Arthur froze.
His face transformed.
“You.”
Vanessa held a gun with both hands.
Her injured arm trembled.
“You’re finished.”
“You won’t shoot me.”
“No.”
Arthur smiled.
Vanessa continued.
“But she might.”
Eleanor had taken Arthur’s second gun from his waistband.
She pointed it at him.
Arthur stared at her.
Penny moved away.
Police flooded the terminal.
Arthur looked toward the exits.
Every one was blocked.
He turned back toward Vanessa.
“I’m your father.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“You stopped being my father when you taught me fear was love.”
Arthur lunged.
A shot rang out.
He fell.
Not dead.
Eleanor had fired into his leg.
Federal agents restrained him.
This time there would be no compromised transport.
No secret marshal.
No escape.
Penny ran to Eleanor.
They held each other.
Across the terminal, Vanessa watched her father being taken away.
Penny approached.
“You saved us.”
Vanessa looked exhausted.
“I helped create some of this.”
“You didn’t murder Moira.”
“No.”
“You chose differently when it mattered.”
Vanessa nodded.
Outside, Declan waited.
The moment Penny appeared, fury and relief fought across his face.
“You signed something?”
“It was invalid.”
“You walked toward an armed murderer.”
“That part was valid.”
Declan rubbed his forehead.
“I have a sister for two weeks and already regret it.”
Penny smiled.
“Get used to it.”
Then Liam arrived.
His expression destroyed the moment.
“Declan.”
“What?”
“Dad’s gone.”
“Gone where?”
“Nobody knows.”
Declan stared.
Liam held up a security image.
Patrick Gallagher had left his guarded medical residence twenty minutes earlier.
May you like
He was not alone.
The person helping him into the car was wearing Margaret Higgins’s coat.
