Chapter 11 – Margaret’s Last Bargain
Rachel had disappeared forty-three minutes earlier.
Her car was found in a parking garage.
The driver’s door was open.
Her purse remained inside.
There was blood on the concrete.
Not enough to know how badly she was hurt.
Enough to make me afraid.
Margaret sent an address.
An abandoned Blackwood warehouse near the river.
She wanted the USB drive.
She wanted my father’s original trust documents.
And she wanted me.
“No.”
Agent Torres did not hesitate.
“You’re not going.”
“She’ll kill Rachel.”
“We’ll handle it.”
“How?”
No answer.
I looked at the agents surrounding me.
“Margaret knows how you operate.”
Torres frowned.
“What are you suggesting?”
“I give her what she thinks she wants.”
Thomas created duplicate files.
A tracking device went inside the USB casing.
I wore a microphone beneath my shirt.
The watch stayed on my wrist.
The same watch that started everything.
At 11:40 p.m., I entered the warehouse.
Alone.
Or at least Margaret believed I was alone.
Lights clicked on.
Rachel sat tied to a chair.
Her lip was bleeding.
“Claire!”
I moved toward her.
A gun appeared.
Margaret stepped from behind a shipping container.
“Stop.”
I stopped.
She looked terrible.
Hair uncombed.
Designer coat stained.
No makeup.
No empire.
Still dangerous.
“Give me the drive.”
“Release Rachel.”
“You’re not negotiating.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
She laughed.
“You finally found a spine.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“I finally stopped letting your family convince me I didn’t have one.”
Her smile disappeared.
“Drive.”
I held it up.
“Tell me what happened to my father.”
Rachel shook her head frantically.
“Claire, don’t.”
Margaret stared at me.
“You already know.”
“I know Reed was involved.”
“Yes.”
“Did you order it?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
“Who did?”
Margaret smiled.
“You still haven’t figured out M.”
My pulse quickened.
“Who is M?”
“Give me the drive.”
“Name first.”
Margaret considered it.
Then she laughed.
“Fine.”
She raised the gun.
“M was never a person.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“M stood for Meridian.”
“What is Meridian?”
“Our private network.”
She stepped closer.
“Judges.”
“Doctors.”
“Police officers.”
“Bankers.”
“People who understood that laws are simply rules written by whoever has enough power.”
My microphone was recording every word.
“Who ordered my father’s death?”
“Meridian voted.”
My stomach turned.
“You voted to kill him?”
“He was going to expose all of us.”
“And Dr. Reed poisoned him?”
Margaret’s expression answered before her mouth did.
“Yes.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
I kept Margaret talking.
“And Adrian?”
“He was weak.”
“Did he vote?”
“No.”
“Did he know?”
“Not until afterward.”
For one painful second, that mattered.
Then I remembered the marble floor.
Truth did not erase another truth.
Margaret held out her hand.
“Now the drive.”
I tossed it.
She caught it.
Then smiled.
“Thank you.”
She pointed the gun at my chest.
May you like
“You really are your father’s daughter.”
She pulled the trigger.
