Chapter 8 - BLACKTHORNE BURNS
We reached Blackthorne twenty-three minutes later.
The eastern wing was burning.
I jumped from the SUV before it stopped.
“Caleb!”
Dominic caught me.
“Security moved him.”
“Where?”
“The safe house.”
Alexander came running through smoke.
Blood covered his forehead.
“Julian took the server copy.”
Dominic stared.
“What?”
“He used us to access Hale’s archive.”
Everything made sense.
Julian didn’t want Hale destroyed.
He wanted Hale’s network.
Every corrupt contact.
Every hidden account.
Every route.
An empire without its emperor.
“He’s replacing Hale,” I whispered.
Alexander nodded.
Then my phone rang.
Julian.
“Where’s Caleb?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“With Mrs. Bell.”
I froze.
Mrs. Bell had left the estate with Caleb ten minutes before the fire.
Julian laughed.
“Check again.”
Dominic grabbed his phone.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
My blood turned cold.
Julian continued.
“You have something I need.”
“The ledger.”
“Yes.”
“You already have Hale’s server.”
“The server proves crimes. Your father’s ledger proves ownership.”
“Where’s Caleb?”
A child’s voice came through.
“Mara?”
My knees weakened.
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“Dad there?”
Dominic took the phone.
“I’m here.”
Caleb started crying.
Dominic’s face broke.
Then Julian returned.
“Pier 17. Midnight. Bring Nathaniel’s ledger.”
The call ended.
Dominic looked ready to tear the world apart.
I took his hand.
“We finish it tonight.”
This time, we didn’t plan to deceive Julian.
We planned to give him exactly what he wanted.
The ledger.
The real one.
But first we photographed every page.
At 11:58 p.m., I walked onto the abandoned pier.
Rain hammered the Hudson.
Julian stood beneath a warehouse light.
Caleb sat twenty feet away beside Mrs. Bell.
Seeing her hurt.
She had welcomed me into Blackthorne.
Warned me not to form attachments.
Now I understood why.
“You,” I whispered.
Mrs. Bell looked ashamed.
“I’m sorry.”
Julian laughed.
“She worked for me before Dominic inherited the house.”
Mrs. Bell had been watching the Mercer family for fifteen years.
She had reported Rebecca’s investigation.
She had helped cause her death.
Dominic stepped from the darkness.
Mrs. Bell’s face crumpled.
“I never knew they’d kill Rebecca.”
“You knew enough,” Dominic said.
Julian raised his gun.
“Ledger.”
I held it up.
“Caleb first.”
“No.”
I threw it into a puddle.
Julian shouted.
“Pick it up.”
“Let him go.”
He aimed at me.
“You think Dominic can save you?”
“No.”
I looked at Dominic.
“I think Caleb can.”
Julian frowned.
Caleb suddenly dropped flat.
Alexander’s men opened fire on the warehouse lights.
Darkness swallowed the pier.
Dominic moved.
I ran toward Caleb.
Mrs. Bell screamed.
A gun fired.
Then another.
I reached Caleb and covered him.
For the second time, my body became his shield.
But no bullet came.
When emergency lights flickered on, Dominic stood over Julian.
Julian’s gun lay several feet away.
Dominic aimed at his chest.
Julian laughed.
“Do it.”
Dominic’s finger tightened.
“Dad!”
Caleb’s voice stopped him.
Dominic looked toward his son.
Caleb was watching.
Everything Dominic did next would become part of him.
Dominic lowered the weapon.
“No.”
Julian smiled.
“Weak.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No. Finished.”
Police sirens approached.
Not local police.
Federal investigators from a unit Alexander had quietly contacted after confirming Hale’s corruption.
Julian’s smile disappeared.
“You think prison holds men like me?”
“No,” I said.
I held up my phone.
“But the live broadcast might.”
His face changed.
Everything had been transmitted.
His confession.
Mrs. Bell.
The kidnapping.
His statements about Hale’s network.
Alexander had sent it simultaneously to investigators, attorneys and multiple news organizations.
Julian stared at me.
“You learned.”
“My father taught me.”
Federal agents surrounded him.
Mrs. Bell surrendered.
Caleb ran to Dominic.
Dominic lifted him.
Then looked at me.
Rain ran down his face.
“You’re bleeding.”
I looked down.
A bullet had grazed my arm.
“Seriously?”
Dominic almost laughed.
“You cannot keep doing this.”
“Getting shot?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll add it to my schedule.”
Caleb wrapped one arm around his father and reached the other toward me.
I stepped closer.
Dominic pulled me against them.
Behind us, Julian Cross was handcuffed.
May you like
Ahead of us, cameras began arriving.
For the first time in eight years, I didn’t hide my face.
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