Chapter 14 - THE CHAPEL
I had no intention of going alone.
I also had no intention of letting Bernard know that.
Federal agents fitted me with a concealed transmitter.
Police surrounded the chapel from blocks away.
Marcus hated every second of the plan.
Julian hated it more.
“You’re not going.”
“Yes.”
“He wants to kill you.”
“He wants me before he wants Elena dead.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
“But I know he wants the performance.”
Julian stared at me.
“I should go.”
“That would destroy the one advantage we have.”
“What advantage?”
“He thinks he understands me.”
I touched his face.
“He still believes I will choose control over fear.”
“He needs me to walk in looking exactly like the woman he has hated for fifteen years.”
Julian’s eyes filled.
“And if something goes wrong?”
“Then trust Marcus.”
“That is not what I asked.”
I looked at my son.
“If something goes wrong, remember none of this was because you trusted Chloe.”
“It was because Bernard chose to destroy people rather than face what he had become.”
Julian swallowed.
I continued.
“Do not let him turn your kindness into shame.”
Then I entered the chapel.
The doors closed behind me.
Candles had been lit along the aisle.
The sight was grotesque.
This was where my son had planned to marry.
Now Elena sat tied to a chair beneath the altar.
Bernard stood beside her.
He held a gun.
“Caroline.”
“Bernard.”
“You came.”
“You knew I would.”
He smiled.
“That is why I always admired you.”
“You never admired me.”
“No.”
“But I respected your predictability.”
I looked at Elena.
Her lip was split.
Her eyes remained steady.
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Bernard laughed.
“Even now.”
“The mistress apologizing to the servant.”
I looked at him.
“That sentence tells me everything about why Chloe became useful to you.”
His smile tightened.
“What?”
“You both believed people in uniforms were invisible.”
“I believed employees were employees.”
“And human.”
“Sentimental.”
“No.”
“Basic.”
He raised the gun slightly.
“Careful.”
I kept walking until I stood halfway down the aisle.
“You wanted me here.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To hear you say it.”
“Say what?”
“That you destroyed me.”
I almost felt pity.
Almost.
“You destroyed yourself.”
His face twitched.
“The same words Henry used.”
“Yes.”
“You poisoned him.”
“No.”
“He trusted me before you.”
“He trusted the version of you that existed before money showed you what you were willing to become.”
Bernard’s jaw tightened.
“You think you’re better than everyone.”
“No.”
“You built foundations so strangers would call you generous.”
“I built the foundation because Henry died and I needed something useful to do with grief.”
“Liar.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The problem.”
“You only accept answers that protect the story you need.”
Bernard’s grip tightened on the gun.
“You are the reason Henry fired me.”
“No.”
“You are the reason Robert lost his shares.”
“No.”
“You are the reason Julian nearly died.”
That stopped him.
I continued.
“Because you needed that to be true.”
“You needed every consequence in your life to belong to someone else.”
“Elena told the truth, so you blame Elena.”
“Chloe panicked, so you blame Chloe.”
“Victor cooperated, so you blame Victor.”
“Henry discovered theft, so you blame me.”
Bernard’s breathing grew harder.
“You came here to lecture me?”
“No.”
“I came because you wanted an audience.”
I looked around the empty chapel.
“Now you have one.”
For the first time, uncertainty entered his expression.
He glanced toward the doors.
He knew police might be near.
He expected it.
What he did not know was how near.
“Take off your jacket.”
I did.
“Phone.”
I placed it on the floor.
He gestured.
“Kick it away.”
I obeyed.
The hidden transmitter remained beneath my blouse.
Bernard smiled.
“You think they can save you.”
“I think you like hearing yourself talk.”
He almost laughed.
Then he dragged Elena to her feet.
“Untie her.”
I said.
“No.”
“You wanted me.”
“Yes.”
“So let her go.”
“She is insurance.”
“You don’t need insurance.”
“Why?”
“Because you already lost.”
His face changed.
I continued.
“Victor gave them the accounts.”
“Chloe gave them the names.”
“Stephanie gave them the introduction.”
“The backup gave them Ethan.”
“Gregory survived.”
“Owen is dead.”
“Your money is frozen.”
“Your passports are known.”
“Your own recordings prove murder.”
“There is no version of tonight where you become Bernard Shaw again.”
His eyes became empty.
That frightened me.
People are most dangerous when hope disappears.
He lifted the gun toward me.
Elena shouted.
“No!”
A gunshot exploded.
I dropped instinctively.
The bullet struck wood behind me.
Then everything happened at once.
Elena drove her shoulder into Bernard.
He stumbled.
The chapel doors burst open.
Officers shouted.
Bernard grabbed Elena around the neck.
Gun against her temple.
“Back!”
Everyone froze.
I stood slowly.
Bernard dragged Elena toward the side door.
“Caroline.”
I looked at him.
“You come with me.”
“No.”
He pressed the gun harder against Elena.
I took one step.
Elena looked at me.
Then she did something I still remember in slow motion.
She stomped backward onto Bernard’s foot.
Twisted.
Dropped her weight.
The gun moved away from her head.
Police fired.
Bernard collapsed.
The gun skidded across the floor.
Elena fell.
I ran to her.
She was shaking.
But alive.
Bernard was also alive.
The bullet had struck his shoulder.
Officers handcuffed him while paramedics entered.
He looked at me from the floor.
Blood spread across his shirt.
His face contained not fear.
Hatred.
“This isn’t over.”
I knelt several feet away.
“Yes.”
“It is.”
He smiled.
“No.”
“You still don’t know what Henry did.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
His breathing became ragged.
“The original trust amendment.”
“Fake.”
“The one Victor made was fake.”
His smile widened.
“But Henry did sign another amendment.”
Margaret entered behind police.
Her face changed.
Bernard saw it.
He laughed.
“She knows.”
I turned toward Margaret.
“What is he talking about?”
She looked pale.
“Caroline…”
My stomach tightened.
“What did Henry sign?”
Bernard closed his eyes as paramedics lifted him.
May you like
His final words before they carried him away were:
“Ask her who inherits if Julian dies unmarried.”
