Chapter 5 - LOCKER 317
The old terminal smelled of rust, river water and forgotten winters.
Arthur had not entered it since his father's funeral.
Paige walked beside him through corridors lined with peeling paint.
Locker 317 was hidden behind a false wall.
The brass key turned.
Inside sat one metal box.
Arthur opened it.
There were photographs.
Bank records.
Letters.
And a cassette tape.
Paige picked up an envelope.
Arthur's name was written across it.
The handwriting belonged to Thomas Gallagher.
Arthur sat down.
For several seconds, he could not open it.
Paige waited.
Finally, he unfolded the letter.
Arthur,
If you're reading this, then I failed to fix something before it reached you.
Arthur stopped.
Paige touched his hand.
He did not flinch.
He continued.
Thomas had discovered Patrick and Vincent stealing through the company.
Margaret Bennett had found the accounting irregularities and secretly copied the records.
Thomas planned to contact federal investigators.
Before he could, his car went through a guardrail.
The death had been called an accident.
It was not.
Another letter was addressed to Margaret.
Paige read it.
Thomas had asked Margaret to hide the evidence because nobody would suspect a twenty-nine-year-old accountant raising a young daughter alone.
Margaret had done exactly that.
Then Patrick discovered she knew.
For years, he had watched her.
Threatened her.
Ensured her silence.
Paige's eyes filled.
“My whole childhood…”
Arthur looked at her.
“She was protecting you.”
“I thought she was distant. Secretive. Sometimes she'd wake up and check the locks three times.”
Paige covered her mouth.
“I thought she was just anxious.”
Arthur understood too well what fear could turn into when carried for years.
He squeezed her hand.
Neither noticed immediately.
When they did, Arthur did not release it.
There was another recording.
Modern equipment allowed Leo to recover the audio.
Patrick's voice filled the terminal.
“If Arthur ever hears this, tell him I was a coward.”
Arthur stared ahead.
Patrick confessed.
He had helped Rourke destroy Thomas Gallagher.
Years later, guilt had consumed him.
He had planned to expose Rourke.
Rourke discovered the plan and ordered Patrick to kill Arthur.
Patrick stabbed him deliberately away from the heart, then allowed Arthur's men to shoot him.
He had chosen his own death rather than finish the murder.
Arthur turned off the recording.
For years he had remembered Patrick's tears as another manipulation.
Now he understood.
Patrick had betrayed his father.
Then betrayed Rourke to save the son.
There was no clean version of the man to remember.
Only a guilty man who had loved too late.
Paige sat beside Arthur.
“You don't have to forgive him.”
Arthur looked at her.
“I don't know what I'm supposed to feel.”
“Then don't decide today.”
That answer seemed to surprise him.
People around Arthur always wanted certainty.
Orders.
Judgments.
Paige allowed confusion.
Leo interrupted them.
“We've got trouble.”
Rourke's men were approaching.
Arthur stood.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
The first vehicle crashed through the terminal gates.
Arthur pushed the evidence into Leo's hands.
“Take this.”
“What about you?”
“Get Paige out.”
Paige immediately objected.
Arthur turned.
“For once in your life, Bennett, please do what you're told.”
She stared at him.
“No.”
“Paige.”
“You think I'm leaving you here?”
“Yes.”
“Then you're apparently not as smart as everyone says.”
Despite everything, Arthur laughed.
A real laugh.
Leo stared.
“Are we seriously doing romantic comedy during an armed siege?”
Paige's face turned red.
Arthur's smile vanished.
“She's my assistant.”
“Of course.”
“Leo.”
“Moving.”
They escaped through an underground freight tunnel as Rourke's men entered from the river.
But Rourke had anticipated them.
At the far end, Callahan was waiting.
The missing dock supervisor.
Arthur understood immediately.
“You opened the gate.”
Callahan raised his weapon.
“Rourke pays better.”
Paige saw him aim.
She shoved Arthur sideways.
The shot missed him.
Arthur knocked Callahan down.
The gun skidded away.
For several seconds Arthur stood over the traitor.
The old Arthur would have ended it there.
Paige watched him.
Arthur looked at her.
Then stepped away.
“Leo.”
Leo restrained Callahan.
Paige understood what Arthur had just done.
He had chosen a future in which he did not have to solve everything with violence.
Perhaps because she was watching.
Perhaps because he was tired.
Outside, police sirens approached.
Arthur frowned.
“You called the police?”
Paige lifted her phone.
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Leo laughed.
“I like her.”
Arthur looked irritated.
“So do I.”
Silence.
Paige stared at him.
Arthur realized what he had said.
Leo suddenly became extremely interested in Callahan's handcuffs.
Arthur cleared his throat.
“We should leave.”
Paige followed.
She was smiling.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Bennett.”
“Absolutely nothing.”
That evening, the evidence was copied and placed with three separate attorneys.
Rourke could no longer destroy it.
But Arthur discovered something worse.
One bank transfer was recent.
Three weeks old.
Someone inside Gallagher's inner circle was still receiving money from Rourke.
And the authorization code belonged to only four people.
Arthur.
Leo.
The chief financial officer.
And Paige.
Arthur stared at the screen.
Paige saw her name.
The warmth between them vanished.
“Arthur.”
He said nothing.
“You don't actually think—”
“I don't know what to think.”
Paige stepped backward.
That hurt more than accusation.
She removed her employee badge.
Set it on his desk.
“You know what? Maybe that's the problem.”
“Paige.”
“You can let me touch you, but you still can't trust me.”
She walked toward the door.
Arthur did not stop her.
Three seconds later, the elevator closed.
Leo entered.
“You're an idiot.”
Arthur looked at him.
“Careful.”
“No. Someone cloned her credentials and you just let the only person you trust walk out believing you suspect her.”
Arthur looked toward the elevator.
Leo continued.
“And there's another problem.”
“What?”
“The transaction happened at 2:13 yesterday morning.”
“So?”
Leo turned the monitor.
Security footage showed Paige entering the executive floor.
Arthur knew Paige had been at the memory-care facility at that time.
The woman in the video wore Paige's coat.
Paige's hair.
Paige's employee badge.
But when she turned toward the camera, Arthur recognized her.
His blood ran cold.
She was a woman he had believed dead for fourteen years.
Patrick Doyle's daughter.
Evelyn.
May you like
And Arthur suddenly realized Rourke had never been hunting Paige because she was Arthur's weakness.
He had been using Paige as bait to bring another ghost home.
