Chapter 6 - The Empty Chair
Celeste dropped the gun.
“No.”
She grabbed Grant’s phone and called back.
No answer.
“Julian!”
Grant stood frozen before the monitor.
Nora picked up the fallen weapon and handed it to Ethan.
“Take us to the conference room.”
Grant did not move.
“Take us there,” she repeated.
His face looked ten years older.
“There’s a private elevator behind the wine cellar.”
They moved through the hotel’s service corridors.
Nora’s cramps came in slow waves, but she refused to stop.
Ethan stayed close without touching her.
When they reached the executive floor, the hallway was silent.
The conference room doors stood open.
Inside, one chair faced the windows.
Rope lay across the floor.
Blood stained the armrest.
But Julian was gone.
Celeste ran inside.
“Julian?”
Vivian stood near the bar, pouring herself a drink.
She was alone.
Celeste rushed toward her.
“What did you do?”
Vivian took a sip.
“Your husband chose badly.”
Celeste grabbed her shoulders.
“Where is he?”
Vivian looked past her toward Ethan.
“You brought everyone.”
Ethan lifted the flash drive.
“It’s over.”
Vivian smiled.
“Is it?”
Grant entered last.
Vivian’s confidence briefly faded.
“You were supposed to control them.”
Grant closed the doors.
“You killed my son.”
Vivian’s face became unreadable.
“Alexander was sick.”
“You put an unapproved implant in his heart.”
“It was designed to save him.”
“You used him.”
“He was already dying.”
Grant’s grief turned to rage.
Nora stepped between them.
“Not here. Not like this.”
Grant looked at her.
“She murdered your father.”
“And I want her alive long enough to answer for it.”
Vivian placed her glass down.
“You all think morality matters because you have never been responsible for thousands of employees, investors, and patients.”
“You buried dead patients,” Maya said.
“I protected a company capable of saving millions.”
“With a device that was not ready,” Nora replied.
“Progress requires risk.”
“Risk chosen by whom?”
Vivian’s eyes shifted toward Nora’s stomach.
“Your father was sentimental. He believed people should be given a choice.”
Nora felt sick.
Vivian continued.
“That belief cost him everything.”
Celeste looked around the room.
“Where is Julian?”
Vivian checked her watch.
“On his way to the airport.”
Everyone stared at her.
“The gunshot was theater,” she said. “Julian agreed to leave the country in exchange for immunity.”
Celeste shook her head.
“He wouldn’t.”
The private elevator chimed.
Its doors opened.
Julian stepped out.
He was no longer tied up.
He had cleaned the blood from his face and changed into a dark overcoat.
Celeste stared at him.
“You made a deal with her?”
Julian looked ashamed but steady.
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“She has evidence linking me to the trial payments.”
Nora’s stomach turned.
“You were involved too?”
Julian met her eyes.
“I approved accounting transfers. I didn’t know what they were for.”
Vivian laughed softly.
“He knew enough not to ask.”
Celeste removed her wedding ring.
Julian stepped toward her.
“Celeste, listen to me.”
She dropped the ring into Vivian’s unfinished drink.
“I married a coward.”
Then Julian looked at Ethan.
“Give Mother the drive.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
Julian opened his coat.
Strapped beneath it was an explosive vest.
Celeste stopped breathing.
Julian’s eyes filled with terror.
“She didn’t give me a choice.”
Vivian smiled.
May you like
“Now,” she said, “perhaps everyone will finally listen.”
---
