Chapter 10 - Margaret’s Last Bargain
“Give me the ledger.”
Margaret’s hand was steady.
Elena’s was not.
Adrian stood several feet away.
“If you shoot her, you leave here dead.”
Margaret laughed.
“There’s my son.”
“I stopped being yours a long time ago.”
“You never stopped.”
Margaret looked at Elena.
“You changed him.”
“No,” Elena said. “He changed himself.”
That irritated Margaret.
Good.
Elena needed her angry.
Needed her distracted.
Rebecca was beneath the desk, quietly reaching for the emergency alarm.
Margaret saw her.
“Don’t.”
Rebecca stopped.
Margaret extended her hand.
“The ledger.”
Elena held it.
“You lose either way.”
“Perhaps.”
“Copies exist.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you here?”
Margaret’s expression changed.
Elena understood.
This was no longer about evidence.
It was about Adrian.
Margaret could not tolerate losing control of her son.
“You came to make him choose.”
Margaret smiled.
“Very good.”
She pointed the gun toward Claire.
“His wife or your mother?”
Adrian moved.
“Enough.”
Margaret swung the gun.
A shot exploded.
Julian tackled her.
The bullet struck the wall.
Adrian disarmed Margaret.
Federal tactical officers flooded the room.
Within seconds Margaret Vale was on the floor in handcuffs.
Julian lay bleeding.
Elena rushed to him.
The bullet had grazed his side.
He looked up.
“Don’t make a big deal out of this.”
Elena laughed despite herself.
“You tackled an armed woman.”
“I’ve had better evenings.”
Vanessa knelt beside him.
For the first time, her concern looked genuine.
Margaret was taken away.
But the victory was incomplete.
Adrian surrendered too.
Elena watched federal agents place cuffs around his wrists.
He had insisted.
“If I expect everyone else to answer for what they did,” he told her, “I have to answer for what I did.”
Before leaving, he kissed Elena.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Months followed.
The Vale network collapsed.
Officials resigned.
Executives were indicted.
Corrupt officers were arrested.
Margaret faced racketeering, attempted murder, fraud, kidnapping, and conspiracy charges.
Adrian cooperated fully.
Elena rebuilt her project.
Julian returned Parcel Seven voluntarily.
He also withdrew every legal challenge against her.
For the first time in years, Elena began believing the nightmare might actually end.
Then Rebecca called.
“Elena, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“Margaret offered prosecutors something.”
“What could she possibly have left?”
Rebecca paused.
“Evidence against Adrian.”
Elena’s heart sank.
“What kind?”
“Murder.”
Elena stopped breathing.
Rebecca continued.
“She says Adrian killed a man six years ago.”
“Who?”
Rebecca gave the name.
Elena dropped the phone.
The alleged victim was Michael Hart.
Her older brother.
May you like
The brother Elena had been told died before she was born.
And according to Margaret, Adrian had killed him.
