Chapter 14 - THE LAST ENEMY
Adrian threw me to the sidewalk.
Glass rained across the street.
People screamed.
Smoke rolled upward.
“Stay down!”
“No argument!”
That shocked him more than the explosion.
His men surrounded us.
“Boss, vehicle was empty.”
Adrian scanned the rooftops.
“Message.”
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
THE LEDGER HAD MORE THAN ONE COPY.
Thomas called ten seconds later.
“Emma.”
“What happened?”
“Somebody broke into evidence storage.”
“The ledger?”
“Still here.”
“Then what?”
“A file.”
“What file?”
Silence.
“Dad.”
“The list of cooperating witnesses.”
Adrian heard.
His face hardened.
“Who had access?”
“Federal staff.”
“Names?”
“Seven people.”
Then I remembered my mother’s letter.
She warned me about Moretti criminals and corrupt federal agents.
Not one enemy.
Two.
Victor had never been alone.
By midnight, Thomas had a name.
Deputy Director Paul Harlan.
His boss.
The man who had supervised the original Moretti investigation sixteen years earlier.
“He ordered your mother’s surveillance,” Thomas said.
“Why?”
“She knew he was taking money from criminal organizations while building cases against their rivals.”
“Victor worked with him?”
“For years.”
Adrian leaned over the table.
“Where is Harlan now?”
Thomas looked sick.
“He requested protective custody.”
Adrian laughed once.
“Of course.”
Then Leo walked into the room.
Barefoot.
Holding his dinosaur.
“Why is everybody awake?”
I smiled.
“Bad grown-up stuff.”
“I hate bad grown-up stuff.”
“Me too.”
A red dot appeared on his shirt.
I froze.
Laser.
“DOWN!”
I tackled Leo.
The window shattered.
A bullet punched into the wall.
Adrian pulled us behind the couch.
Security rushed outside.
Thomas yelled into his phone.
The shooter fled.
But he left something behind.
A phone.
On it was a live video.
Harlan.
“Emma Carter.”
His face filled the screen.
“I’m tired of cleaning up your mother’s mistakes.”
Adrian took the phone.
“You’re going to regret that sentence.”
Harlan smiled.
“You can threaten me, Mr. Moretti. But tomorrow morning, every surviving witness tied to that ledger will be dead unless Emma brings me the original files.”
Thomas swore.
“Where?”
Harlan gave an address.
Federal courthouse.
I frowned.
“That’s insane.”
“No,” Thomas said.
“It’s smart.”
Harlan wanted a public building.
Security.
Cameras.
Federal protection.
A place where Adrian couldn’t simply bring twenty armed men.
“I’ll go,” I said.
“No,” Adrian and Thomas said together.
I looked at them.
“Cute.”
“Emma,” Adrian warned.
“He wants me.”
“He wants the evidence.”
“Then we give him evidence.”
Thomas understood first.
“You want to trap him.”
“I want this finished.”
Adrian stared at me for a long time.
Then he said, “You’re not walking in there alone.”
“I know.”
The next morning, I entered the federal courthouse carrying my mother’s box.
Harlan waited in an empty conference room.
He smiled when the door shut.
“You look like Isabella.”
I placed the box on the table.
“People keep telling me that.”
“Do you know how much trouble your mother caused?”
“I’m hoping to beat her record.”
His smile disappeared.
“Open it.”
I did.
Files inside.
He reached for them.
I stepped back.
“First, tell me where the witnesses are.”
“Safe.”
“Wrong answer.”
Harlan pulled a gun.
“Do you really think I came here to negotiate?”
“No.”
I looked toward the ceiling camera.
“I came here to get you to pull a gun on federal property.”
His face changed.
The doors burst open.
Agents stormed inside.
Harlan grabbed me.
Gun against my throat.
“Back off!”
Everyone froze.
Then the side door opened.
Adrian stepped in.
Unarmed.
Again.
I stared at him.
“You really need a new strategy.”
Harlan pressed the gun harder against my neck.
Adrian didn’t blink.
“Let her go.”
“Or what?”
Adrian’s voice became terrifyingly calm.
“Or you find out why men like Victor feared me.”
Harlan smiled.
Then I drove my heel down onto his foot.
He jerked.
I slammed my head backward into his nose.
May you like
The gun fired.
And Adrian’s face went white.
