Chapter 10 - BENNETT'S TRUE MASTER
Bennett smiled as he aimed the pistol directly at Julian.
His hand was perfectly steady.
Gabriel struggled on the floor.
The sedative spread through his body faster than he expected.
His fingers clawed desperately at his own neck.
“You...” Gabriel gasped.
“You betrayed me.”
Bennett looked down without sympathy.
“No.”
“I simply reached the final stage of the plan.”
Gabriel tried to lift the gun he had dropped.
His arm refused to obey.
“You worked for me.”
“For thirty-four years.”
Bennett laughed quietly.
“I worked for whoever believed they were using me.”
Gabriel's breathing became heavier.
“You cannot control the network without me.”
“That is exactly what you never understood.”
Bennett crouched beside him.
“The network stopped belonging to you years ago.”
“You only believed you were still leading it.”
Julian kept one arm around Bianca.
Blood continued soaking through her shirt.
She was conscious.
Barely.
Her breathing had become shallow.
“Julian...” she whispered.
“Stay with me.”
“I don't deserve that.”
“Just stay awake.”
Bennett turned toward them.
“That wound was intentional.”
Julian looked up.
“You shot her.”
“I shot where she would survive.”
“She still has value.”
Bianca stared at him.
“You planned this.”
“Of course.”
“You planned everything.”
Bennett nodded.
“I allowed Vincent to believe he controlled the money.”
“I allowed Gabriel to believe he controlled the network.”
“I allowed Bianca to believe she controlled Julian.”
“And everyone forgot the physician.”
“The man trusted with every medical record.”
Julian felt cold anger spreading through him.
“You poisoned my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You murdered Alexander.”
“No.”
“I merely completed what Vincent began.”
“You still killed him.”
“Yes.”
Bennett accepted the accusation without emotion.
“And tonight I will complete the family.”
Behind him, Alexander's recording continued playing.
The hidden computers inside the vault were transmitting files.
One screen displayed a progress bar.
TRANSFER TO FEDERAL ARCHIVE
18%
Bennett noticed it.
His smile faded.
“How long?”
Julian answered.
“Forty-nine minutes.”
“That is enough time.”
Bennett walked toward the control panel.
He entered several codes.
Every attempt failed.
He struck the keyboard with his fist.
“No.”
“There must be a manual override.”
Alexander's recorded voice answered him.
“There isn't.”
Bennett froze.
The recording continued.
“I built this room knowing someone inside my own circle would eventually betray me.”
“I simply never knew which one.”
Bennett turned back toward Julian.
“You knew I existed.”
Alexander's image smiled sadly.
“I suspected.”
“You prescribed medicines no patient truly needed.”
“You asked questions unrelated to treatment.”
“You watched people more than you examined them.”
Bennett fired twice into the screen.
Glass shattered.
The recording continued through hidden speakers.
“You always believed intelligence alone made you dangerous.”
“You forgot one thing.”
Bennett shouted.
“Enough!”
His voice echoed through the vault.
Silence followed.
Only the hum of the servers remained.
Gabriel suddenly laughed from the floor.
The sound was weak.
But genuine.
“You idiot.”
Bennett looked at him.
“You sealed yourself inside.”
“With me.”
“With Julian.”
“And every piece of evidence.”
Bennett pointed the gun at Gabriel.
“I only need the ledger.”
“You still don't understand.”
Gabriel smiled through the pain.
“The ledger is useless without me.”
Julian watched them carefully.
For the first time, neither criminal trusted the other.
That division was his only advantage.
Bianca grabbed Julian's sleeve.
“There is... another door.”
Julian looked at her.
“What?”
“The emergency exit.”
“Where?”
She struggled to breathe.
“Behind... the archive shelves.”
“How do you know?”
“Gabriel showed me.”
“He planned to use it after finding the ledgers.”
Bennett heard every word.
He turned immediately.
“Where?”
Bianca closed her eyes.
“I don't remember.”
Bennett stepped toward her.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“You remember everything.”
“You always did.”
He grabbed her injured shoulder.
Bianca cried out.
Julian lunged.
Bennett swung the pistol toward him.
“Stay back.”
Julian stopped.
He looked at Bianca.
Blood stained his hands.
He remembered another night.
Another pool.
Another desperate struggle.
Another person begging for help.
He had saved his mother.
Now he was trying to save the woman who had almost taken her away.
Life had become impossible to explain.
Bianca opened her eyes again.
“There.”
She looked toward the far wall.
Bennett followed her gaze.
Rows of heavy filing cabinets stood against the concrete.
He hurried toward them.
The moment he disappeared behind the shelves...
Julian whispered.
“Was that true?”
Bianca shook her head.
“I don't know if there's a door.”
“I only needed him to move.”
Julian nodded.
Gabriel watched them.
“You still trust her?”
Julian looked at him.
“No.”
“But I trust you even less.”
Gabriel laughed again.
“Good.”
“You're finally thinking like a Rossi.”
Julian answered quietly.
“No.”
“I'm thinking like Alexander.”
Gabriel's smile disappeared.
The transfer screen reached 31%.
Behind the filing cabinets, metal scraped against concrete.
Bennett shouted.
“I found something!”
Julian looked toward the shelves.
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“There really is another exit.”
Bianca whispered.
“I didn't know.”
Bennett pulled hard against hidden steel.
A narrow passage slowly opened.
Cold air rushed into the vault.
He smiled triumphantly.
“I don't need any of you anymore.”
He pointed the pistol toward Julian.
“Bring the hard drive.”
Julian remained still.
“The real one.”
Julian realized Bennett knew.
“You switched it.”
“Yes.”
“I expected Detective Cole to prepare a fake.”
Bennett smiled.
“You're predictable.”
Julian slowly stood.
“I don't have it.”
Bennett raised the gun.
“You have three seconds.”
“One.”
Julian looked toward Gabriel.
The older man was watching everything.
Waiting.
Calculating.
“Two.”
Suddenly Gabriel moved.
Using the last strength left in his body, he grabbed Bennett's ankle.
The shot fired wildly.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Concrete rained down.
Julian charged.
He slammed into Bennett.
Both men crashed through the shelves.
Black ledgers scattered across the floor.
Bianca crawled toward Gabriel's dropped weapon.
Her injured arm trembled violently.
She almost reached it.
Bennett kicked Julian away.
He recovered the pistol first.
He aimed directly at Bianca.
“No more mistakes.”
Before he could fire...
The vault lights suddenly turned blue.
A calm electronic voice filled the room.
FEDERAL ACCESS CONFIRMED.
PRIMARY LOCKDOWN COMPLETE.
REMOTE OVERRIDE ACTIVATED.
TRANSFER STATUS:
100%.
Every screen inside the vault changed at once.
Instead of financial records...
Live video feeds appeared.
Dozens of armed federal agents surrounded the entire shipyard.
Helicopters circled overhead.
Armored vehicles blocked every exit.
Gabriel stared at the screens.
“No...”
Bennett slowly lowered the gun.
Alexander's final recording appeared one last time.
“If you are seeing these agents...”
“It means Julian chose compassion instead of revenge.”
“He stayed alive long enough.”
“And the truth finally escaped this room.”
Heavy explosions echoed outside.
Federal teams were breaching Warehouse One.
Shouting filled the corridors.
Bennett looked toward the emergency tunnel.
Then toward Julian.
Then toward the ledgers.
He smiled strangely.
“You think this is over.”
Julian said nothing.
Bennett reached into his coat.
He removed a small black remote.
Cole's voice suddenly came through the vault speakers.
“Julian!”
“Get out of there!”
“That remote controls the explosive charges under the dry dock!”
Bennett's thumb moved toward the red button.
“If I cannot own the network...”
“No one will.”
He pressed it.
Nothing happened.
Bennett frowned.
He pressed again.
Still nothing.
A new voice echoed through the speakers.
Calm.
Female.
“This is Deputy Director Naomi Price.”
“Your detonators were disconnected twelve minutes ago.”
Bennett's face lost all color.
He looked at the useless remote.
“No...”
Naomi continued.
“Doctor Bennett...”
“Your game ended before you entered the vault.”
The emergency passage behind Bennett suddenly burst open.
Armed federal agents flooded inside.
“Federal agents!”
“Drop your weapon!”
Bennett spun toward the tunnel.
He fired twice.
The agents returned fire.
A bullet struck Bennett in the shoulder.
Another shattered the pistol in his hand.
He collapsed against the filing cabinets.
Julian immediately knelt beside Bianca.
“She needs a medic!”
Two agents rushed forward.
A medic followed seconds later.
Gabriel remained on the floor.
Handcuffs clicked around his wrists.
For the first time in more than three decades...
The man who had terrified everyone was completely powerless.
He lifted his head slowly.
His eyes met Julian's.
“You're making the same mistake Alexander made.”
Julian stood.
“What mistake?”
“Believing prisons stop ideas.”
Julian answered calmly.
“No.”
“I believe people stop following monsters once they finally see their real faces.”
Outside the vault, sirens echoed across the shipyard.
But one agent suddenly spoke into his radio.
His expression changed.
He looked toward Naomi's team leader.
Then toward Julian.
“Ma'am...”
“We have another problem.”
Naomi frowned.
“What happened?”
The agent swallowed hard.
“One of the twelve cargo ships...”
“...left the harbor eighteen minutes ago.”
The entire room fell silent.
Gabriel slowly smiled.
May you like
“That one...”
“...is the only ship that truly matters.”
