Chapter 11 - WHAT DANIEL REALLY FOUND
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Vincent looked between the two men.
Peter Carter’s gun remained pointed at Gabriel.
“You said Victor killed Daniel.”
Vincent’s voice was low.
Gabriel looked at him.
“He did.”
Peter laughed bitterly.
“Tell him the rest.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“Peter.”
“Tell him.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“What rest?”
Gabriel stared at the lake.
Then finally spoke.
“Daniel found me eight months ago.”
“I told you that.”
“Yes.”
“He also found the original Bellgrave archive.”
Vincent looked at the metal case.
Gabriel nodded.
“Peter had kept it hidden.”
“Daniel wanted to release everything.”
“Names.”
“Payments.”
“Crimes.”
“All of it.”
Peter said, “And Gabriel stopped him.”
Vincent looked at his brother.
“Why?”
Gabriel’s eyes were exhausted.
“Because the archive contains more than Hale crimes.”
“It contains witnesses.”
“Informants.”
“People in protection.”
“Victims whose lives would be destroyed if their names became public.”
Vincent frowned.
“So Daniel wanted a controlled release.”
“At first.”
Gabriel swallowed.
“Then he found something else.”
“What?”
“A set of files your father kept separately.”
Peter lowered the gun slightly.
“Project North.”
Vincent had never heard the name.
Gabriel continued.
“Charles Hale used Bellgrave intelligence to manipulate government contracts.”
“Elections.”
“Corporate mergers.”
“Investigations.”
“He didn’t just collect secrets.”
“He manufactured outcomes.”
Vincent felt sick.
“And Daniel found proof.”
“Yes.”
“He believed the only way to stop everyone involved was to release everything at once.”
Peter said, “Daniel trusted the public more than these people deserved.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“And I told him dumping thousands of innocent names onto the internet would ruin lives.”
“You fought.”
“Yes.”
Vincent’s voice tightened.
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
Peter’s gun rose again.
“You left him.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
Peter’s voice shook with rage.
“Victor found the safe house.”
“Daniel was injured.”
“Gabriel had a car.”
“He could have taken my son.”
“But he took the archive.”
Gabriel shouted.
“That isn’t what happened!”
“Then tell Vincent!”
Gabriel looked at his brother.
“I had two minutes.”
“Victor’s men were coming.”
“Daniel had been shot.”
“He told me to take the drive.”
Peter laughed.
“He told you to take Sophie’s evidence.”
“No.”
“He told me Victor couldn’t get the archive.”
“You abandoned him.”
“He was already—”
Gabriel stopped.
Vincent heard it.
The sentence Gabriel could not finish.
Peter whispered.
“My son was still alive.”
Silence moved across the lake.
Gabriel stared down.
“When I left, yes.”
Vincent felt anger rise.
“You left Daniel alive?”
“I thought Victor would chase me.”
“He didn’t.”
“No.”
Gabriel looked broken.
“He stayed.”
Peter’s gun trembled.
“And finished what he started.”
Sophie’s voice suddenly came from behind them.
“Grandpa?”
Every man turned.
Vincent’s heart stopped.
Sophie stood at the end of the dock.
She had left the locked room.
Peter’s face collapsed.
The gun dropped toward the boards.
“Sophie.”
She stared at him.
She had seen photographs.
Old ones.
Daniel must have kept them.
“You’re alive.”
Peter began crying.
The gun slipped from his hand.
He knelt.
Sophie ran.
Vincent almost stopped her.
Then he saw Peter’s hands.
Open.
Empty.
Sophie threw herself into her grandfather’s arms.
Peter held her.
For a moment, the entire conspiracy disappeared.
There was only a grandfather who had been dead on paper for most of a child’s life.
Then Sophie pulled away.
“Where’s my dad?”
Peter looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel looked at Vincent.
No one answered.
Sophie understood.
Her face changed.
“No.”
Peter held her.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“He can still be alive.”
“Sophie.”
“No!”
Her grief tore through the quiet lake.
Vincent turned away.
He hated Gabriel for the truth.
He hated Victor more.
He hated Charles Hale most of all.
One dead patriarch had poisoned generations after him.
Then a vehicle engine approached through the woods.
Gabriel turned.
“Did you bring anyone?”
Vincent shook his head.
Peter grabbed his gun.
Headlights appeared between trees.
Marcus’s voice called from the road.
“Vincent!”
Vincent relaxed slightly.
Marcus emerged.
Then stopped when he saw Peter.
“Who the hell—”
A second gunshot cracked through the trees.
Peter jerked.
Sophie screamed.
Peter collapsed.
Vincent pulled Sophie down.
Marcus fired toward the tree line.
Gabriel dragged Peter behind a wooden bench.
Blood spread across Peter’s shoulder.
Not fatal.
Maybe.
Another shot hit the dock.
“SHOOTER EAST!”
Marcus shouted.
Vincent covered Sophie.
A figure ran through the woods.
Marcus chased.
Gabriel shouted after him.
“Don’t!”
Too late.
Marcus disappeared into the trees.
Vincent helped Peter.
“Stay with me.”
Peter gripped Vincent’s sleeve.
“The case.”
Vincent looked toward it.
The metal archive case sat near the dock.
Open.
Empty.
Vincent stared.
It had contained something when he arrived.
He was certain.
“Where is it?”
Peter gasped.
“Marcus.”
Vincent froze.
“What?”
Peter coughed.
“The man who shot me…”
His eyes struggled to focus.
“Marcus knew him.”
Vincent looked toward the dark forest.
Then Sophie whispered something.
“Vincent.”
He turned.
She was holding the black ring taken from Darren.
She had picked it up from Vincent’s coat after leaving the house.
The lighthouse engraving faced upward.
Peter saw it.
His face filled with fear.
“Where did you get that?”
“Darren wore it.”
Peter shook his head violently.
“No.”
“What?”
“That was Daniel’s.”
Sophie stared.
Peter continued.
“Daniel gave that ring to the only man he trusted inside Vincent’s security team.”
Vincent slowly looked toward the forest.
May you like
Marcus Bell had vanished into the darkness.
And the original archive had vanished with him.
