Chapter 12 - The Last Lie at Hawthorne Grill
Marcus smiled.
“Now we're finally a family.”
Victor moved in front of Lana.
Marcus noticed.
“Protective already?”
“Put the gun down.”
Marcus held up the will.
“Anthony left half of everything to Ingrid's child.”
Lana stared.
“I don't want anything.”
“That,” Marcus said, “is what makes you so irritating.”
His entire plan had changed once he learned Lana was alive.
Anthony’s legitimate holdings included controlling interests in the dock property.
Victor had believed he owned them.
Legally, Lana owned half.
Marcus needed both dead before he could manipulate the succession through shell companies.
The dinner had been more than an assassination.
It had been an inheritance coup.
Lana looked at him.
“You killed Daniel because he knew.”
Daniel stepped from behind the bar.
Marcus blinked.
“Apparently not.”
For once, Marcus lost composure.
Victor almost smiled.
Police sirens sounded outside.
Marcus laughed.
“You think they're here for me?”
Victor’s expression changed.
The doors burst open.
Armed officers entered.
Their commander pointed at Victor.
“Victor Marlow, hands where I can see them.”
Marcus smiled.
One more compromised officer.
Lana noticed the commander’s insignia.
She had seen his name in the ledger.
Captain Roland Pierce.
Victor slowly raised his hands.
Pierce approached.
Marcus relaxed.
That was his mistake.
Lana picked up the silver pitcher.
She smashed it against the fire alarm.
Sprinklers erupted.
Lights flashed.
Chaos.
Leo disarmed Pierce.
Daniel tackled Marcus.
Victor moved toward Evelyn.
Lana grabbed the will.
Marcus broke free and ran.
He escaped through the service corridor.
Again.
But Pierce was captured.
His phone contained the location Marcus was heading toward.
Pier Thirteen.
The final archive chamber.
Marcus intended to destroy the physical originals and flee by boat.
Victor looked at Lana.
“This ends tonight.”
She nodded.
“No more secrets.”
They moved toward the docks.
On the way, Lana sat beside Victor.
Neither knew what to say about the revelation.
Finally Victor spoke.
“I always wanted a sister.”
She stared at him.
“That is an incredibly strange thing to say right now.”
“I know.”
She laughed.
Then cried.
Then laughed again.
Victor put an arm around her.
For the first time, the gesture contained no suspicion.
No strategy.
Family.
Messy, impossible family.
At Pier Thirteen, they found Marcus’s boat.
Empty.
A trail of blood led underground.
Lana followed Victor into the old tunnels.
They reached a steel door.
Three keyholes.
Lana inserted the brass key.
Then the pendant.
Evelyn inserted hers.
The mechanism unlocked.
Victor opened the door.
Inside stood Marcus.
And beside him was a wall covered with explosives.
His thumb rested on the detonator.
“Welcome,” he said.
Then he pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
Marcus stared at it.
A voice came from behind him.
“Looking for this?”
Gavin stepped from the shadows holding a disconnected receiver.
Marcus’s face twisted.
“You.”
Gavin looked at his brother.
“You should have left Sarah out of it.”
Marcus raised his gun.
A shot thundered.
Gavin fell.
Sarah screamed.
Victor fired back.
Marcus disappeared through another door.
Lana dropped beside Gavin.
Blood spread beneath him.
He was breathing.
Barely.
Sarah pressed both hands against the wound.
“Stay with me.”
Gavin looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
“You can apologize for the next fifty years.”
He smiled weakly.
Then alarms began sounding.
Daniel checked the explosives.
“The detonator wasn't the only trigger.”
A timer illuminated.
04:59.
May you like
Four minutes and fifty-nine seconds.
And the only exit door slammed shut behind them.
