Chapter 10 - VICTORIA DISAPPEARS
Her car remained in the garage.
Driver’s door open.
Purse on the ground.
Phone beneath the vehicle.
Arthur stared at it.
Daniel said, “Call the police.”
Arthur already had.
Security footage showed Victoria approaching her car.
A black SUV entered the garage.
The camera went dark eleven seconds later.
When the image returned, Victoria was gone.
Rachel examined the system.
“Remote interference.”
Marcus paced the room.
“This is Dad.”
Arthur looked at him.
“You’re certain?”
“He used people like Victor Dane for years.”
“Would he really do this to his daughter?”
Marcus stopped pacing.
“You still don’t understand my father.”
Arthur looked at Victoria’s abandoned purse.
Maybe Marcus was right.
Arthur had spent years thinking Charles loved his children in a twisted, controlling way.
Perhaps Charles didn’t love people.
He loved ownership.
And Victoria had stopped belonging to him.
Three hours passed.
Then Arthur’s phone rang.
Victoria.
Arthur answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
Charles’s voice replied.
“Bring me the ledger.”
Arthur’s expression hardened.
“Let me speak to her.”
“You don’t give orders.”
“Then you don’t get anything.”
Silence.
Then Victoria’s voice came through.
“Arthur?”
She sounded shaken.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Charles returned.
“Midnight.”
“Where?”
“Harbor Street.”
Arthur almost laughed.
“The building is crawling with investigators.”
“Not the warehouse.”
Charles gave him another address.
A private marina two miles away.
“Come alone.”
The call ended.
Marcus shook his head.
“You can’t.”
Arthur agreed.
“I’m not.”
At 11:40 p.m., Arthur drove toward the marina.
Alone.
At least that was what Charles believed.
Rachel had placed a tracker beneath Arthur’s collar.
Police were positioned several blocks away.
Daniel had the original ledger.
Arthur carried a copy.
At 11:58, he entered an empty boathouse.
Charles stood inside.
Victoria sat nearby.
She wasn’t restrained.
But two men stood behind her.
Victor Dane was one of them.
Charles extended his hand.
“The ledger.”
Arthur held it up.
“Victoria walks first.”
Charles smiled.
“You always were sentimental.”
“No.”
Arthur looked at Victoria.
“I’m correcting a mistake.”
Victoria’s eyes filled with tears.
Charles scoffed.
“She humiliated you.”
“She did.”
“She lied to you.”
“Yes.”
“She helped me steal from your company.”
“Yes.”
Charles looked almost amused.
“And you still came?”
Arthur answered quietly.
“Saving someone from you doesn’t erase what they did.”
Victoria lowered her head.
“But justice and revenge aren’t the same thing.”
Charles’s smile disappeared.
“Ledger.”
Arthur tossed it onto the floor between them.
Victor picked it up.
Charles flipped through several pages.
His expression changed.
“This is a copy.”
Arthur smiled.
“Yes.”
Charles looked up.
“You idiot.”
“No.”
Arthur glanced toward the ceiling.
“You’re the idiot.”
Charles followed his gaze.
A tiny red light blinked from Arthur’s collar.
Charles lunged forward.
“What did you do?”
Arthur stepped back.
“Recorded everything.”
Charles shouted toward Victor.
“Take it!”
But before Victor could move, sirens erupted outside.
Charles froze.
Victoria stood.
For the first time, she looked directly at her father without fear.
“It’s over.”
Charles stared at her.
Then something terrifying happened.
He smiled.
“No, sweetheart.”
He reached into his jacket.
Arthur moved instinctively between Charles and Victoria.
But Charles didn’t pull out a weapon.
He pulled out a phone.
And pressed one button.
A deep explosion sounded somewhere in the distance.
The floor shook.
Victoria screamed.
Arthur turned toward the window.
Flames rose into the night sky.
From Harbor Street.
May you like
Charles whispered.
“Now it’s over.”
