Chapter 13 - The Final Trap
The message on my phone stayed there for several seconds.
I stared at it.
My hands went cold.
“Now you’re exactly where I need you.”
Vincent Coleman knew.
He knew I followed Nathan.
He knew I was involved.
And worse…
He wanted me here.
I looked around the dark road ahead.
Nathan’s car was several hundred feet away, parked outside an abandoned warehouse near the edge of the city.
The place looked exactly like a trap.
Because it was.
I should have turned around.
Anyone with common sense would have.
But common sense was the reason those boys were almost dead.
Everyone with expensive degrees.
Everyone with power.
Everyone who believed they understood the situation.
They all missed the truth.
I wasn’t going to make the same mistake.
I stepped out of my car.
And walked inside.
The warehouse was empty.
Too empty.
Nathan stood in the middle of the room.
No security.
No weapons visible.
Just him.
Waiting.
“You shouldn’t have followed me.”
I looked at him.
“You shouldn’t have come alone.”
A small smile appeared on his face.
“You sound like Gerald.”
“That means he’s smarter than you.”
For the first time in days, Nathan almost smiled.
Then a voice echoed from the shadows.
“She really is interesting.”
I turned.
A man stepped forward.
Older than Nathan.
Similar eyes.
Same cold confidence.
Vincent Coleman.
The man who had been dead for five years.
The man who destroyed an entire family from the shadows.
He looked at me.
“So this is the nanny.”
I said nothing.
Vincent smiled.
“I expected someone ordinary.”
“I am.”
“No.”
He walked closer.
“That’s exactly what makes you dangerous.”
Nathan stepped between us.
“Leave her out of this.”
Vincent laughed.
“Still protecting strangers.”
He looked at Nathan.
“That was always your weakness.”
“No.”
Nathan stared at him.
“That was always my strength.”
Vincent clapped slowly.
“Beautiful.”
He walked around the warehouse.
“You know what I hated most about you?”
Nathan didn’t answer.
“You had everything.”
“Power?”
“No.”
Vincent stopped.
“Love.”
The word sounded almost poisonous.
“You had Elena.”
“You had children.”
“You had people who would die for you.”
His expression darkened.
“And you wasted it.”
Nathan’s eyes hardened.
“You murdered my wife.”
Vincent shrugged.
“She found things she shouldn’t have.”
“You poisoned my sons.”
“I protected my future.”
The anger inside me exploded.
“Your future?”
Vincent looked at me.
“Yes.”
“You nearly killed two children.”
He smiled.
“Children inherit everything.”
That sentence told me everything.
He wasn’t sorry.
Not even a little.
Nathan moved forward.
“You’re going to confess.”
Vincent laughed.
“You think anyone will believe you?”
He pointed toward the cameras.
“You came here alone.”
A pause.
“You threatened me.”
Another pause.
“And you’re the head of a criminal empire.”
He smiled.
“Who do you think the world will believe?”
Nathan looked around.
He understood.
Vincent had planned everything.
The meeting.
The location.
The evidence.
Everything.
But Vincent made one mistake.
He forgot about me.
I slowly reached into my pocket.
Vincent noticed.
“What are you doing?”
I pulled out my phone.
His smile disappeared.
Because the recording was already running.
His own confession.
His own words.
His own voice.
“You…”
I smiled.
“You talked too much.”
For the first time…
Vincent looked worried.
Nathan looked at me.
“How long?”
“Since he admitted poisoning the boys.”
Vincent’s expression turned furious.
“You think a recording saves you?”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“But it helps.”
The warehouse doors suddenly opened.
Security officers rushed inside.
Nathan’s team.
Gerald’s backup plan.
Vincent looked at Nathan.
“You lied.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“She learned.”
Vincent escaped.
Not because he was stronger.
Because he was prepared.
A hidden exit opened behind him.
Before disappearing, he looked back.
“This isn’t over.”
Nathan moved forward.
But Vincent was already gone.
The police arrived minutes later.
The evidence was enough to begin the investigation.
The poison.
The payments.
The recordings.
Everything.
But Vincent was still free.
And as we returned to the mansion…
I received another message.
From Vincent.
Only four words.
May you like
“Check the children’s room.”
My heart stopped.
