Chapter 11 - The Siege
Arthur crawled toward Maya and Noah.
“Basement. Now.”
Daniel grabbed the hard drive.
Another bullet shattered the lamp.
Maya screamed.
Noah pulled her toward the hallway.
Arthur stayed low.
Outside, an engine idled.
Grant wasn’t alone.
Daniel whispered, “They found the lake house. They found us here. Somebody is feeding them locations.”
Arthur called Ruiz.
Gunfire interrupted.
She heard it.
“Stay down! Units are coming!”
“How long?”
“I’m two minutes away.”
Daniel looked at Arthur.
“Two minutes is long.”
Grant shouted from outside.
“Arthur! I don’t want the kids!”
Maya muttered, “That’s comforting.”
Despite everything, Arthur almost laughed.
Grant continued.
“Give me the drive and I leave!”
Arthur shouted back.
“You first.”
A pause.
Then Grant laughed.
“Samuel used to talk like that.”
Arthur’s face changed.
Grant had chosen the wrong weapon.
“You were there when my father died?”
“I arrived afterward.”
“Then why do you care about the drive?”
“Because Charles will kill me if he thinks I betrayed him.”
“You did betray him.”
“I’m trying to survive.”
Maya looked toward Arthur.
“He’s scared.”
Arthur realized she was right.
Grant wasn’t attacking because he was loyal.
He was trapped.
Arthur called out, “Charles abandoned you.”
Silence.
“He let you get arrested.”
Nothing.
“He got you out because he needs you for one more job.”
Grant answered.
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know Charles Vale only protects Charles Vale.”
A long pause.
Arthur continued.
“You think he’ll let you live after this?”
Daniel stared at him.
Arthur was improvising.
But Grant knew Charles better than anyone.
“You killed for him.”
Arthur said.
“You kidnapped for him.”
No response.
“You know every secret.”
Then Grant finally spoke.
“What are you offering?”
Daniel’s eyes widened.
Arthur said, “Walk inside unarmed.”
“Are you insane?”
“Probably.”
Daniel whispered, “Definitely.”
Arthur ignored him.
“Walk inside. Tell the truth. Help Ruiz take Charles down.”
“And prison?”
“You earned prison.”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“At least you’re honest.”
Sirens sounded faintly.
Grant swore.
Then the engine outside roared.
Arthur looked through a broken window.
A black sedan accelerated away.
Another vehicle remained.
The driver’s door opened.
Grant stepped out.
Hands raised.
Gun on the ground.
Daniel stared.
“He’s surrendering?”
Arthur wasn’t sure.
Grant walked toward the porch.
Suddenly gunfire erupted from the departing sedan.
Grant spun and collapsed.
Arthur reacted without thinking.
He ran outside.
“Arthur!” Daniel shouted.
Bullets struck the driveway.
Arthur grabbed Grant beneath the arms and dragged him behind a stone planter.
Grant gasped.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Who was driving?” Arthur demanded.
Grant coughed.
“Hollis.”
Arthur froze.
Deputy Chief Martin Hollis had just shot a witness.
Police sirens screamed closer.
Grant gripped Arthur’s wrist.
“There’s another copy.”
“Of what?”
“The ledger.”
“Where?”
Grant coughed blood.
“Charles has it.”
Arthur frowned.
“Then why attack us for ours?”
“Not same ledger.”
Grant’s voice weakened.
“Edmund kept two.”
Daniel arrived with towels.
“One financial.”
Grant nodded.
“Other one… names.”
“Names of what?”
Grant looked at Maya.
“People who helped Charles.”
Maya went pale.
Grant whispered,
“Your mother found it.”
“Where is it?”
Grant struggled to breathe.
“She hid it somewhere Charles can’t enter.”
Arthur leaned closer.
“Where?”
Grant looked at him.
“Samuel’s grave.”
Then his eyes closed.
Ruiz arrived seconds later.
Paramedics rushed Grant away.
He survived.
Barely.
But the sentence stayed with Arthur.
Samuel’s grave.
That afternoon, Arthur stood in the cemetery where his father had been buried eleven years earlier.
Daniel beside him.
Ruiz behind them.
Maya and Noah waited in the car.
Arthur looked down at the headstone.
SAMUEL COLE.
BELOVED FATHER.
MAN OF PRINCIPLE.
Arthur almost laughed at the irony.
His father had died protecting evidence.
Elena had hidden evidence with him.
Daniel pointed toward a small flower vase built into the grave marker.
Arthur removed it.
Beneath the metal insert was a sealed cylindrical container.
Inside was a second ledger.
Ruiz opened the first page.
Her face went white.
Judges.
Police officers.
Executives.
Doctors.
Politicians.
Dozens of names.
Then Maya screamed from the parking lot.
Arthur turned.
A gray van was speeding away.
The rear door slammed shut.
Noah stood alone beside the car.
“Maya!” he screamed.
Arthur ran.
May you like
But the van was already disappearing through the cemetery gates.
Charles Vale had finally taken one of the children back.
