Chapter 14 - THE LAST BULLET
CLICK.
Nothing happened.
Eleanor pulled the trigger again.
CLICK.
Her face changed.
Thomas laughed weakly.
“You always were terrible at checking a magazine.”
Eleanor screamed and threw the gun.
She grabbed Thomas by the throat.
Julian rushed forward.
Two agents pulled her away.
She fought like an animal.
“GET OFF ME!”
They forced her to the floor.
Cold steel handcuffs snapped around her wrists.
For the first time in Julian’s life, Eleanor Vance looked powerless.
She turned her face toward him.
“You think Lily will thank you when she grows up and realizes you destroyed her inheritance?”
Julian stared at her.
“She almost died because of that inheritance.”
“She’ll need money.”
“She needs a father.”
Eleanor laughed bitterly.
“You always were weak.”
Julian crouched beside her.
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“I was weak when I kept making excuses for you.”
She stopped smiling.
“I was weak when I cared more about this family’s name than the people you hurt.”
He stood.
“I’m done being weak.”
Agents dragged her away.
Outside, paramedics treated Thomas.
Mercer was placed in a federal vehicle.
Hayes approached Julian.
“The ledger is secure.”
“And the recording?”
“Secure.”
“And the camera footage from the mansion?”
“Recovered.”
Julian looked toward the river.
“What about Sloane?”
“Divers are searching.”
“Meaning?”
“No body yet.”
Julian sighed.
Of course.
Nothing ended cleanly.
Hayes looked at him.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“We recovered Caroline’s original vehicle maintenance file.”
Julian’s chest tightened.
“It proves the brake line was tampered with.”
He nodded slowly.
“Good.”
“There’s more.”
She handed him a plastic evidence sleeve.
Inside was a note.
Caroline’s handwriting.
Julian recognized it instantly.
J—
If anything happens to me, don’t believe it was an accident.
Your mother knows I found the accounts.
Take Lily and go.
I love you.
—C
Julian stopped reading.
He couldn’t breathe.
For two years, he had mourned Caroline.
For two years, he had blamed himself for not insisting she drive slower.
Not checking the car.
Not being there.
But she had known.
And she had tried to warn him.
Hayes touched his arm.
“I’m sorry.”
Julian folded the note carefully.
Then his phone rang.
The hospital.
His face changed as he answered.
“What happened?”
He listened.
Then looked toward Thomas.
“Lily?”
Hayes stiffened.
May you like
Julian grabbed his jacket.
“She collapsed.”
