Chapter 8 - ELENA’S SECRET
For one second, the whole warehouse stopped making sense.
“Elena ordered her own death?”
Claire laughed.
“No.”
Crowe fired again.
I returned fire.
He ducked behind a forklift.
Claire shouted,
“She ordered the car sabotage!”
My mind reeled.
Marcus groaned from the floor.
Adrian yelled, “You’re lying!”
“No.”
Claire sounded almost pleased.
“Elena wanted Julian frightened.”
“Why?”
“Because fear was the only thing she thought might make him leave.”
The words cut deeper than bullets.
Leave.
Elena had begged me for years.
Sell the clubs.
Get out of the underground businesses.
Take Sophia somewhere safe.
I always said soon.
After one more deal.
One more expansion.
One more year.
Claire kept talking.
“Elena found Aaron Bell herself. She paid him through Vincent.”
Grace whispered behind me, “Oh God.”
“The brakes were supposed to malfunction at low speed. Enough to scare Julian. Enough to make him believe someone had targeted his family.”
My stomach twisted.
“And the steering?”
Claire went silent.
I knew the answer.
“That wasn’t Elena.”
“No.”
“Who changed the plan?”
Crowe stepped from behind the forklift.
He raised his pistol.
“Me.”
I fired.
He dropped behind cover.
“Why?”
His voice came through the dark.
“Because Elena found the accounts.”
“What accounts?”
“The money we were moving through your shipping companies.”
Claire shouted,
“She was going to expose us!”
Adrian looked destroyed.
“You were stealing from Julian?”
Claire answered her husband.
“For us!”
“No. Don’t say us.”
“You loved the house. The vacations. The private schools we talked about.”
“That doesn’t mean I wanted murder!”
“You wanted freedom.”
“And you thought killing a child bought it?”
Claire flinched.
That was the first time her confidence cracked.
Crowe shouted,
“Sophia wasn’t supposed to be in the car!”
There it was again.
The excuse cowards always used.
The child wasn’t supposed to be there.
As if death cared about plans.
Marcus dragged himself behind a crate.
“Boss.”
I reached him.
The bullet had gone through his side.
“Can you move?”
“I’ve had worse.”
He hadn’t.
But I let him lie.
Sirens sounded outside.
Crowe panicked.
“You called the police?”
Marcus smiled weakly.
“Not your police.”
Federal agents flooded the entrances.
Claire dropped her weapon.
Crowe ran.
He made it ten steps.
An agent tackled him.
Adrian stood in front of Claire.
She reached for him.
“Adrian…”
He stepped back.
“You killed my niece.”
Tears appeared in her eyes.
“I never wanted Sophia hurt.”
“You were there afterward.”
He stared at her.
“You knew.”
She said nothing.
That was enough.
As agents cuffed her, she looked at me.
“Elena left something for you.”
I stepped closer.
“What?”
“A recording.”
“Where?”
Claire smiled through tears.
“Ask Grace.”
Everyone turned.
Grace went pale.
I stared at her.
“You knew about a recording?”
She nodded.
May you like
And then she whispered,
“I’ve had it the whole time.”
