Chapter 10 - THE MAN BEHIND THE MONEY
Victor fired at the television.
Glass exploded.
Chief Reed ducked.
I lunged toward Daniel.
Vanessa screamed.
Peter Sloan rolled behind the sofa.
Victor grabbed me from behind and pressed the gun against my ribs.
Right beside the scar.
For one terrible second, I was back in that rain-soaked street eight years earlier.
Gunfire.
Sirens.
Blood.
My brother screaming my name.
Victor whispered against my ear.
“Same place.”
I froze.
He knew.
“You were there.”
He smiled.
“I pulled the trigger.”
My whole body went cold.
Victor had shot me.
Not some anonymous gunman.
Him.
Daniel saw my face.
“Elena.”
I forced myself to breathe.
Panic wastes oxygen.
I drove my heel into Victor’s foot, twisted hard, and dropped beneath his arm.
Chief Reed slammed into him.
The gun skidded across the floor.
Vanessa grabbed it.
Everyone froze.
She held it with both hands.
Shaking.
Victor looked at her.
“Give me the gun.”
“No.”
“Vanessa.”
“You lied to me.”
“I protected you.”
“You used me.”
Victor’s voice softened.
“You think these people care about you? Daniel replaced you. Elena humiliated you. I’m your father.”
Vanessa started crying.
For the first time all night, I believed the tears.
Victor stepped forward.
“Give it to me.”
She hesitated.
Then pointed the gun at him again.
“No.”
Federal agents burst through the stairwell.
Victor was forced to his knees.
Handcuffs closed around his wrists.
Daniel exhaled.
I ran to him and cut the restraints.
He pulled me against him.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Victor started laughing.
Chief Reed turned.
“What’s funny?”
Victor looked at Daniel.
“You still think this ends with me?”
Daniel stiffened.
Victor smiled.
“Ask him why his signature is on the transfers.”
Daniel looked at me.
“I didn’t sign anything.”
Victor kept laughing.
“Oh, you did.”
“No.”
“Three years ago. Zurich.”
Daniel went pale.
I felt him pull away.
“Daniel?”
He stared at the floor.
“There was a restructuring.”
Victor nodded.
“There it is.”
“What restructuring?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Vanessa’s father told me certain foreign subsidiaries needed emergency authorization. I signed a packet.”
I stared at him.
“You didn’t read it?”
“I trusted our lawyers.”
Victor leaned toward him.
“You signed away control of ninety million dollars.”
Daniel looked sick.
But Victor wasn’t finished.
“And that’s not your biggest problem.”
Chief Reed grabbed his shoulder.
“Enough.”
Victor grinned at me.
“Richard Vale’s final video doesn’t accuse me of being the head of the network.”
I stared at him.
“Who does it accuse?”
Victor’s smile vanished.
“Ask Marcus.”
Chief Reed went completely still.
May you like
And I knew Victor had just found one last grenade to throw.
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