Chapter 17 - The Shot
The bullet had struck Jason.
Not Sophie.
Laura stood near the entrance with her weapon raised.
Jason looked down at the blood.
Disbelief crossed his face.
He pressed one hand to his side.
Then he ran.
Even wounded, he refused to surrender.
He disappeared behind a wall of smoke.
Firefighters reached Sophie.
She was conscious.
Her ankle was injured.
Her forehead was cut.
But she was alive.
I knelt beside her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Save your strength.”
“I gave him the real letter.”
“Why?”
“He said he would confess.”
“He lied.”
“I know.”
She started crying.
“I wanted to fix it.”
“You cannot fix people like him.”
Police searched the building.
A blood trail led toward the roof access.
Jason climbed six flights.
He reached the rooftop as the fire spread below.
Laura followed.
Marcus followed.
I was ordered to remain downstairs.
I ignored the order.
By the time I reached the roof, Jason stood near the edge.
Flames glowed through broken windows behind him.
Sirens filled the street below.
Laura aimed her weapon.
“Step away from the edge.”
Jason laughed weakly.
“You want a trial?”
“Yes.”
“You want the world to hear everything?”
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“You want to watch my mother blame me?”
“Yes.”
“You want to watch Robert pretend he never knew me?”
“Yes.”
“You want Daniel to call himself my father?”
I stepped closer.
“I want you alive long enough to hear every person tell the truth.”
His smile faded.
“You always were cruel.”
“No.”
“I simply stopped protecting you from consequences.”
He looked at the street below.
Then back at me.
“I did love you.”
“You loved controlling me.”
“I took care of you.”
“You made me sick.”
“You needed me.”
“You made sure I needed you.”
Jason’s face twisted with anger.
“You were going to take everything.”
“I did not know anything about the company.”
“You would have learned.”
“So you decided I had to die.”
He said nothing.
The silence was the confession.
Laura stepped closer.
“Jason, put your hands where I can see them.”
He raised one hand.
The other remained near his coat.
“Both hands.”
He looked at me.
“Do you remember the tea?”
I felt cold despite the fire.
“The first time I put it in, you thanked me.”
Laura moved.
Jason pulled something from his coat.
Not a weapon.
A lighter.
In his other hand, he held my father’s letter.
He ignited the corner.
“No!”
I moved forward.
Jason smiled.
Then Sophie appeared behind me.
She threw a bottle of water from the emergency pack.
It struck the burning letter.
The flame went out.
Jason stared at her.
That second was enough.
Marcus tackled him.
The lighter slid across the roof.
Laura kicked it away.
Jason fought.
He screamed.
He blamed Margaret.
He blamed Robert.
He blamed Daniel.
He blamed me.
Officers forced his hands behind his back.
As they lifted him, the wet letter fell near my feet.
Most of it survived.
At the bottom, beneath my father’s signature, was a line none of us had noticed.
Daniel Harper is not the only witness.
I read it twice.
Then I looked at Laura.
“Who else knew?”
Jason stopped struggling.
For the first time that night, he looked afraid.
May you like
He whispered one name.
“Dr. Patel.”
