Chapter 13 - THE LAST WITNESS
Grant called his mother.
No answer.
Security at the care residence didn’t answer either.
They drove through the night.
Caleb came despite Reed’s objections.
“You were shot yesterday.”
Caleb buckled his seat belt.
“I’ve had worse weeks.”
“You literally haven’t.”
“Probably true.”
They arrived at 2:11 a.m.
Front doors open.
Desk abandoned.
One guard unconscious.
Grant ran upstairs.
“Mom!”
They found Eleanor in her room.
Alive.
Victor stood behind her.
Gun pressed against her head.
He smiled at Grant.
“Three generations.”
Grant stopped.
“Let her go.”
Eleanor looked remarkably calm.
“You must be Victor.”
Victor blinked.
“You remember me?”
“I remember your father.”
His face twisted.
“You destroyed him.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“My husband did.”
“You protected Charles.”
“Yes.”
The honesty surprised everyone.
Eleanor looked at Caleb.
“You’re Thomas’s boy.”
Caleb felt his throat tighten.
“You knew my father?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know what happened?”
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Caleb’s anger surged.
“And you said nothing?”
“I was a coward.”
Victor laughed.
“Finally.”
Eleanor continued.
“I kept the records because someday I thought I would tell the truth.”
Caleb snapped, “Someday?”
She looked at him.
“I know.”
No excuses.
That somehow made it worse.
Victor demanded the documents.
Eleanor pointed toward a wall safe.
Grant opened it.
Inside were ledgers, photographs, recordings, signed statements.
Enough to expose decades of corruption.
Victor smiled.
“Give them to me.”
Caleb looked at him.
“What then?”
“I burn the Harrington legacy.”
“Those records also prove what happened to my father.”
Victor’s expression changed.
Caleb stepped closer.
“You don’t want justice.”
Victor aimed the gun toward him.
“You want control.”
“Shut up.”
“You want to decide who gets punished.”
“Shut up.”
“Just like Charles.”
Victor’s face twisted with rage.
Caleb had hit the wound.
“You’re exactly like him.”
Victor fired.
Eleanor screamed.
Grant tackled his mother to the floor.
Caleb dove behind a cabinet.
Police stormed the hallway.
Victor ran toward the balcony.
Caleb chased him.
Victor climbed over the railing.
Below was a steep wooded slope.
“You’re trapped!” Caleb shouted.
Victor looked back.
“No.”
Then he jumped.
Caleb reached the railing.
Victor landed on a lower roof and disappeared into darkness.
Reed arrived beside him.
Caleb stared down.
Victor was gone again.
But on the balcony floor lay his phone.
The screen was still unlocked.
May you like
And an active countdown filled the display.
00:04:57.
