Chapter 11 - CLAIRE'S LAST MESSAGE
Claire left one clue.
A voicemail.
Daniel played it repeatedly.
At first, it sounded accidental.
Rustling.
Breathing.
A car engine.
Then Claire’s voice.
“Please don’t hurt him.”
Charles answered.
“He was never supposed to become part of this.”
Daniel froze.
Him.
Not me.
Claire wasn’t talking about herself.
She was talking about Ethan.
Then another sound appeared.
Three bells.
Daniel recognized them.
Freight crossing bells.
Then a ship horn.
Owen analyzed the audio.
“There are only two freight crossings near active shipping routes.”
One was near Terminal Four.
The other was near an old Whitmore shipyard.
Daniel knew immediately.
“Pier Seventeen.”
FBI agents moved.
Daniel went with them.
Inside the shipyard, Claire was tied to a chair.
Ethan sat beside her.
Charles stood near a boat.
Vanessa was there too.
Daniel stared.
“You.”
Vanessa looked ashamed.
“He made me bring Claire.”
Claire shouted.
“She helped me escape the car.”
Charles raised his gun.
“Enough.”
Everything stopped.
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She had changed sides.
Charles knew it too.
“You disappoint me,” he told her.
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“I get that a lot.”
Charles pointed the gun at her.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Dad.”
Charles turned.
“Take me.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel kept walking.
“You wanted me.”
Charles smiled.
“I wanted my company.”
“You can have it.”
Everyone stared at Daniel.
Charles narrowed his eyes.
“What?”
“Whitmore Holdings.”
Daniel continued walking.
“I’ll sign it over.”
“Daniel, no,” Claire said.
Charles studied his son.
“Why?”
“Because I’m tired.”
Daniel stopped ten feet away.
“I’m tired of watching you destroy everyone just to prove you still own something.”
Charles lowered the gun slightly.
That was enough.
Ethan kicked the chair sideways.
It struck Charles’s knees.
Claire threw herself down.
Vanessa lunged.
A gunshot exploded.
Vanessa screamed.
Daniel tackled his father.
The gun slid across the concrete.
Charles punched him.
Daniel hit back.
Years of anger came out in one blow.
Charles fell.
Then reached toward a second gun hidden near his ankle.
Claire saw it.
May you like
“Daniel!”
Another gunshot echoed through the shipyard.
