Chapter 12 - THE PEOPLE WHO CAME FOR THE DRIVE
“Upstairs,” Christopher said.
Yvette grabbed Emma.
They moved fast.
Christopher killed the lights.
The front door opened downstairs.
No knock.
No warning.
Boots crossed the living room.
A man said, “Find the drive.”
Christopher’s blood went cold.
They knew exactly why he was there.
Emma started breathing too fast.
Christopher put a finger to his lips.
She nodded.
Yvette led her toward the attic stairs.
Christopher stayed near the bedroom door.
One man entered the hallway.
Christopher waited.
Closer.
Closer.
The man stepped into the room.
Christopher slammed the door into his face.
The shotgun fired into the ceiling.
Emma screamed upstairs.
Christopher attacked.
He drove his shoulder into the man’s chest.
They crashed through a dresser.
The gun slid away.
Christopher punched him once.
Twice.
A second man rushed in.
Yvette appeared behind him with an iron fireplace poker.
She swung.
The man dropped.
Christopher looked at her.
Yvette adjusted her sweater.
“I’ve cleaned this family’s messes for thirty-two years.”
Footsteps came from downstairs.
The third man ran.
Christopher grabbed the shotgun and followed him outside.
The man reached the car.
“Stop!”
He froze.
“Turn around.”
Slowly, he did.
Christopher recognized him.
Victor Lane.
Former chief financial officer of Pierce Biomedical.
“You.”
Victor lifted his hands.
“Christopher, listen.”
“You came into a house with armed men.”
“I came for the drive.”
“Why?”
“Because if you release what’s on it, thousands of people could lose everything.”
“People already lost everything.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t understand what your father built.”
“My father built a criminal operation.”
“He built Pierce Holdings.”
“By bribing officials?”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“You think your mother was the mastermind?”
Christopher stared at him.
“She inherited the system.”
“From my father.”
“No.”
Victor looked almost sorry.
“From you.”
Christopher’s grip tightened.
“What are you talking about?”
“You were twenty-six. Pierce Biomedical’s trial was failing. People were getting sick.”
“I wasn’t running the company.”
“You signed the emergency authorization.”
“I signed what my father put in front of me.”
“Exactly.”
Christopher’s stomach dropped.
Victor continued.
“Your father used your signature to bury trial deaths.”
“No.”
“Rachel found the records.”
“No.”
“And when she threatened to expose them, someone used your credentials to pay Ross.”
Christopher lowered the gun slightly.
“Who?”
Victor looked toward the road.
A vehicle appeared in the distance.
Black SUV.
Fast.
Victor’s face drained.
“They found us.”
“Who?”
Victor backed away.
“You still think this is about your mother.”
“WHO?”
The SUV stopped.
The rear door opened.
A man stepped out.
Christopher stared at him.
Impossible.
The man had gray hair now.
He walked with a cane.
But Christopher knew that face.
He had watched that face disappear beneath the lid of a coffin twelve years ago.
May you like
His father.
Jonathan Pierce.
