Chapter 13 - The House Where It Began
Ruiz refused to drive directly to Briar Glen.
“Too obvious.”
Arthur stared at the location on his phone.
“Maya is in there.”
“And Charles knows we’re coming.”
“How?”
“Hollis.”
Daniel nodded.
“If Hollis still has access to police dispatch, every marked unit becomes a beacon.”
Ruiz made a call.
Not to police.
To federal agents Victoria had contacted.
Twenty minutes later, six unmarked vehicles moved toward Briar Glen from three directions.
Arthur was told to stay back.
He did not stay back.
The estate looked peaceful.
Huge white house.
Stone walls.
Manicured lawn.
The kind of place where crimes looked impossible because the landscaping was too expensive.
Agents breached the side entrance.
Arthur heard shouting.
Then a gunshot.
Then another.
Ruiz pulled him behind a vehicle.
“Stay down!”
“I’m not leaving Maya in there.”
An upstairs window shattered.
A man fell backward behind the curtain.
More shouting.
Then Maya appeared at a window.
“Arthur!”
His heart stopped.
Charles grabbed her from behind.
A pistol against her neck.
“Back!” Ruiz shouted.
Charles disappeared.
Arthur ran.
Ruiz cursed and followed.
Inside, the foyer was chaos.
One security guard lay handcuffed.
Another had surrendered.
Federal agents moved through rooms.
Arthur raced upstairs.
“Maya!”
A door slammed at the end of the hallway.
He followed.
The room beyond opened into Charles’s study.
Charles stood beside a hidden elevator.
Maya in front of him.
Gun beneath her jaw.
“Don’t.”
Arthur stopped.
Charles smiled.
“Samuel’s son.”
Arthur’s entire body shook with rage.
“Let her go.”
“You have something of mine.”
“It belongs to her.”
“All money belongs to whoever can keep it.”
Maya rolled her eyes.
Even with a gun against her.
Arthur almost admired her.
Charles noticed.
“She thinks she’s brave.”
“She is.”
“She’s a child.”
“And you’re terrified of her.”
That struck.
Charles’s jaw tightened.
Arthur continued.
“You murdered her mother because Elena wasn’t afraid of you.”
“Careful.”
“You murdered my father because he knew you were a thief.”
Charles’s face darkened.
“He was an accountant who forgot his place.”
Arthur felt rage burn behind his eyes.
Maya whispered, “Keep him talking.”
Charles looked down.
“What?”
Maya smiled.
“You talk too much.”
Then the fire alarm exploded.
Sirens screamed through the house.
Maya stomped on Charles’s foot.
He cursed.
Arthur lunged.
The gun fired.
Bullet into ceiling.
Arthur hit Charles full force.
Maya rolled away.
Ruiz rushed through the doorway.
“Drop the weapon!”
Charles and Arthur struggled.
The gun slid across the floor.
Charles punched Arthur.
Arthur hit him back.
Years of grief.
Years of lies.
One punch for Samuel.
One for Elena.
One for Maya.
One for Noah.
Arthur raised his fist again.
Maya shouted,
“Stop!”
He froze.
Charles lay beneath him bleeding.
Maya’s voice softened.
“Don’t become him.”
Arthur lowered his hand.
Ruiz cuffed Charles.
He laughed even then.
“You think this ends anything?”
Federal agents entered.
One held a tablet.
“It might.”
The agent turned the screen toward Charles.
Victoria was live on a secure video feed.
She sat beside federal prosecutors.
Charles stared.
His daughter said quietly,
“I released everything.”
For the first time, Charles Vale looked old.
“What did you do?”
“What I should have done eleven years ago.”
Charles struggled against the cuffs.
“You ungrateful little—”
Victoria disconnected.
Arthur helped Maya stand.
She hugged him so hard he nearly lost balance.
“Where’s Noah?”
“Safe.”
“Did he cry?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t tell him I asked.”
Arthur smiled.
“No promises.”
Downstairs, agents carried boxes from Charles’s office.
Computers.
Files.
Drives.
Evidence.
Ruiz approached Arthur.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Hollis is gone.”
Arthur’s smile vanished.
“What do you mean gone?”
“He disappeared ten minutes before the raid.”
Maya heard.
Her face changed.
Arthur looked at Ruiz.
“Where would he go?”
Nobody knew.
Until Arthur’s phone rang.
Noah.
Arthur answered.
But it wasn’t Noah’s voice.
Deputy Chief Martin Hollis said,
“You should have left Charles alone.”
Arthur stopped breathing.
May you like
Behind Hollis, Noah cried out.
And the line went dead.
