Chapter 8 - The Assistant Who Was Never Supposed to Exist
Vanessa was alive.
The bullet had struck her shoulder.
Declan’s men were outside the locked vault.
Arthur had sealed the door behind himself.
He smiled at his daughter bleeding on the floor.
“You always were disappointing.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You murdered Moira.”
“Yes.”
No denial.
No shame.
Arthur wanted the ledger.
Declan placed it on the table.
“You walk out with that, every Gallagher in Chicago hunts you.”
Arthur laughed.
“You still think fear belongs to your family.”
Penny watched him.
Men like Arthur depended on everyone watching the gun.
So Penny watched his eyes.
Every time he glanced toward the ledger, his attention left Eleanor.
Penny moved slightly.
Arthur noticed.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
“You’re Margaret’s little mouse.”
Penny said nothing.
“She hid you well.”
“You were afraid of a baby.”
His smile vanished.
“You were evidence.”
“Of what?”
Arthur looked at Eleanor.
“Ask your mother who your father was.”
Penny turned.
Eleanor went pale.
“No.”
Arthur laughed.
“There it is.”
Penny’s chest tightened.
“Mom?”
Eleanor whispered, “Your father wasn’t Daniel.”
“I know. He adopted me.”
“No.”
Eleanor’s eyes filled.
“I mean your biological father.”
Arthur enjoyed the silence.
Penny refused to give him the satisfaction.
“Who?”
“Patrick Gallagher.”
Declan went still.
Liam stared at Penny.
Arthur smiled.
“You’re their sister.”
The room seemed to lose sound.
Penny looked at Eleanor.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor cried.
“Patrick and I had an affair. Before everything became ugly.”
Declan stepped backward.
Penny was his half sister.
Liam’s too.
Suddenly Margaret’s desperate protection made even more sense.
Penny was not merely a witness’s daughter.
She was a Gallagher heir.
Arthur lifted the gun.
“And that is why she was never supposed to exist.”
Penny’s mind moved faster than her fear.
If Arthur wanted the ledger, he needed to leave alive.
If he killed them all, the vault became his grave too.
“You don’t have the exit code,” Penny said.
Arthur looked at her.
“Excuse me?”
“The door locked behind you.”
He glanced back.
Penny had guessed.
His hesitation confirmed it.
“Margaret designed this vault,” she continued. “The rings opened it from outside. But the interior release uses a code.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“You know it?”
Penny lied.
“Yes.”
Declan understood immediately.
He moved away from the ledger.
Arthur pointed the gun at Penny.
“Tell me.”
“Let Vanessa go.”
“No.”
“Then enjoy the vault.”
Arthur stepped closer.
Penny’s knees wanted to collapse.
She kept her face still.
“Code.”
“Let her go.”
Arthur struck Penny.
Declan lunged.
Arthur fired.
The bullet missed.
Liam tackled him.
The pistol skidded across the floor.
Eleanor kicked it away.
Declan hit Arthur once.
Then again.
Then stopped.
Not because Arthur deserved mercy.
Because Penny said his name.
“Declan.”
He looked at her.
“Alive,” Penny said. “He answers for Moira alive.”
Declan stepped back.
Police arrived twenty minutes later after Vanessa activated an emergency beacon hidden in her bracelet.
Arthur Cole was arrested.
Vanessa was taken to the hospital.
The ledger went into federal custody.
It should have ended there.
It did not.
That afternoon, investigators discovered one page missing.
The page listing Arthur’s current partners.
Someone had removed it before the shooting.
Only five people had entered the vault before Arthur.
Penny.
Declan.
Liam.
Vanessa.
Eleanor.
One of them had taken it.
That evening, Penny returned to her apartment under protection.
She found the door closed.
No damage.
No forced entry.
But when she entered, Margaret’s cedar chest was open.
A note rested inside.
YOUR MOTHER IS STILL LYING TO YOU.
Beneath it was the missing ledger page.
May you like
One name had been circled.
Eleanor Gallagher.
