Chapter 12 - What Vincent Owed
Vincent removed his coat.
Carlo’s guard patted him down.
His fingers stopped at the wire.
Carlo sighed.
“You disappoint me.”
The guard tore it loose.
Sarah kept her arms at her sides.
Her transmitter remained beneath the seam of her sweater.
Carlo looked toward Daniel.
“You see what happens when people try to be clever?”
Daniel’s hands shook on the table.
“Let the girl go.”
“Finish the transfer.”
He pushed a laptop toward Daniel.
On the screen lay documents assigning control of Reed Holdings and its claims to Carlo’s newest company.
Sarah understood.
The purchase had never been clean.
He needed Daniel’s cooperation to fix the ownership trail.
And he needed the hidden originals destroyed.
Daniel had refused for eight years.
Carlo had finally found a threat he believed would break him.
Emily.
Vincent stepped forward.
“You have my signature on the original funding. You can tell them I approved everything.”
“You did.”
“I approved accounts I didn’t understand. You used them to steal.”
Carlo smiled.
“Carelessness is such a comfortable word.”
Vincent’s voice stayed steady.
“I ordered Daniel taken. I let you lie to me. I never checked whether he reached home.”
Sarah watched him.
He was saying it where it could be heard.
Where it could hurt him.
“That’s mine,” Vincent said. “What you did afterward is yours.”
Carlo glanced at Sarah.
“You should hear about the people Vincent did check on.”
She didn’t flinch.
“I don’t need you to tell me he’s dangerous.”
Vincent absorbed that too.
Daniel reached toward the laptop.
Carlo turned.
“Good.”
Sarah stared at her husband.
He pressed a key.
Then another.
A small notification appeared.
FILE SENT.
Carlo’s smile vanished.
“What did you do?”
Daniel lifted his head.
“Eight years of your transactions.”
The guard grabbed his shoulder.
Daniel winced.
“To the address Sarah’s attorney left in the copies.”
Nora’s contact details were printed on the cover letter.
Carlo slammed the laptop shut.
Then he pulled a handgun from his jacket.
Vincent stepped in front of Emily.
May you like
Carlo raised it toward Sarah instead.
“Tell your friends outside to leave.”
