Chapter 11 - The Marina
Rain hammered the warehouse roof.
Daniel hated rain.
He said it made everything look cheap.
I wondered if he thought that that night.
Vanessa entered alone.
Agents waited outside.
So did I.
Evelyn had argued.
Agent Blake had argued harder.
I stayed anyway.
Daniel appeared from the shadows wearing jeans and a dark coat.
He looked older.
Not ruined.
Not yet.
Just stripped of polish.
“Where’s the passport?”
Vanessa lifted a bag.
“Where’s the ledger?”
Daniel laughed.
“You first.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“No.”
“Funny.”
His face tightened.
Vanessa continued.
“You trusted me enough to put my brother’s companies on every dirty invoice.”
“You benefited.”
“So did you.”
“I built everything.”
“With Claire’s money.”
That hit.
Even through the audio feed, I heard the silence.
Daniel said, “Don’t say her name.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s finished.”
My hands tightened.
Vanessa laughed.
“Claire is the reason you’re hiding in a warehouse.”
“She got lucky.”
“No.”
“She finally looked at you.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You think she’ll save you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He opened a duffel bag.
Inside were files.
Cash.
A handgun.
Agent Blake whispered, “Damn it.”
Vanessa saw it too.
Her breathing changed.
Daniel picked up the ledger.
“This is worth more than the company now.”
“To who?”
“Everyone whose name is inside.”
“You’re blackmailing them?”
“I’m surviving.”
“What about Claire?”
Daniel smiled.
“If I need her, I still have enough to bury her.”
That was the line.
The one agents needed.
Vanessa said, “The C.M. entries?”
“Exactly.”
“You forged those.”
“So?”
“She never knew.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
My eyes closed.
There.
Clear.
Clean.
Daniel continued.
“Truth is whatever the paperwork proves.”
Agent Blake whispered, “We have him.”
Then everything broke.
A metal door slammed somewhere behind Vanessa.
Daniel turned.
He saw movement outside.
His face changed.
“Who did you bring?”
Vanessa backed away.
“Nobody.”
He reached for the gun.
Agents moved.
“Federal agents!”
Chaos.
Daniel grabbed the ledger.
Vanessa ducked behind a crate.
I heard shouting.
A crash.
Then a gunshot.
My whole body froze.
One shot.
Then another sound.
Daniel yelling.
“Don’t move!”
The feed went dead.
I took one step toward the warehouse.
Agent Blake’s partner grabbed my arm.
“No.”
Inside, silence lasted five seconds.
It felt like five years.
Then the radio crackled.
“Suspect down. Nonfatal. Secure.”
I exhaled so hard my knees nearly gave out.
Daniel was alive.
Vanessa was alive.
May you like
The ledger was recovered.
And for the first time since this began, Daniel Mercer was in handcuffs.
