Chapter 14 - THE LAST SECRET
Daniel collapsed.
Ava screamed.
Victor tackled Richard.
Marcus kicked the gun away.
Police sirens approached.
This time they weren’t Richard’s people.
Zoe had livestreamed everything.
Every word.
Every gunshot.
Every confession.
Millions were watching.
Marcus cuffed Richard.
Ava knelt beside Daniel.
Blood covered his chest.
“Dad.”
Daniel smiled weakly.
“You said it again.”
“Shut up.”
She pressed her hands against the wound.
“You’re going to the hospital.”
“I’m getting tired of hospitals.”
“You don’t get to joke.”
Noah cried beside her.
Daniel looked toward him.
“He’s loud.”
“He gets that from me.”
“No.”
Daniel smiled.
“Elena.”
Ava broke.
“Don’t talk about her like you’re leaving.”
Victor crouched beside them.
“Ambulance is coming.”
Daniel looked at his brother.
“I’m sorry.”
Victor’s face tightened.
“For what?”
“For leaving you with him.”
Victor knew he meant their father.
Daniel reached toward him.
Victor took his hand.
“You were an idiot.”
Daniel laughed weakly.
“Runs in the family.”
Sirens grew louder.
Richard shouted from the floor.
“You think this ends anything?”
Ava looked at him.
Richard smiled through blood on his lip.
“You have no idea who else is involved.”
Victor stood.
Richard continued.
“Senators. Judges. Governors.”
Zoe entered holding her phone.
“Good thing you just said that live.”
Richard’s smile disappeared.
Zoe turned the screen.
Two million viewers.
And rising.
Richard closed his eyes.
For the first time, he looked old.
Defeated.
Police entered.
Federal agents followed.
Ava frowned.
Zoe smiled.
“I emailed the files to twelve news organizations, three federal agencies, and two foreign newspapers.”
Victor stared.
“When?”
“Before we came.”
Ava almost laughed.
Zoe shrugged.
“I’m paranoid.”
Marcus smiled.
“Elena would’ve liked you.”
Daniel was rushed to surgery.
Again.
Richard Hale was arrested before sunrise.
Martin Crowe survived.
From his hospital bed, he agreed to testify.
The account was frozen.
The files were authenticated.
Eleven arrests happened within forty-eight hours.
Then twenty-three.
Then forty-one.
Judges resigned.
A state senator disappeared and was arrested trying to cross into Canada.
A retired police commissioner confessed.
Victor’s father’s foundation was raided.
For two weeks, the Hale name was everywhere.
Ava stayed at the hospital.
Daniel eventually woke.
She was beside him.
He looked around.
“Still alive?”
“Unfortunately.”
He smiled.
Ava held Noah closer.
Daniel looked at the baby.
“Can I?”
Ava hesitated.
Then placed Noah carefully in his arms.
Daniel stared at his grandson.
Tears filled his eyes.
“Hello, little man.”
Ava watched them.
She had imagined meeting her father thousands of times as a child.
None of those fantasies looked like this.
Scarred man.
Hospital tubes.
A stolen life.
But it was real.
Then Daniel looked at her.
“There’s one more thing.”
Ava groaned.
“No more secrets.”
“This one matters.”
“What?”
Daniel looked toward Victor.
“The money in the account.”
Victor frowned.
“What about it?”
Daniel smiled.
“It never belonged to the Hales.”
Ava stared.
“Who does it belong to?”
May you like
Daniel looked at her.
“Elena.”
