Chapter 13 - Midnight at the Rail Depot|
The old rail depot had been abandoned for nearly a decade.
We arrived shortly before midnight, with police units positioned several blocks away and a surveillance team watching the entrances. Adrian had agreed to the plan only after the lead detective assured him that no one would enter the building without a clear signal.
I carried a replica of the blue ledger.
The original was secured in Evelyn's office, where a forensic team had already photographed every page.
“You're shaking,” Adrian said.
“I'm cold.”
“You're wearing a coat.”
“Then perhaps I'm frightened.”
He looked at me.
“That's understandable.”
I glanced toward the depot.
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
The honesty surprised me.
“Of what?”
“Of what happens if we find Maureen too late. Of what happens if Victor escapes again. Of what happens if the evidence points somewhere neither of us expects.”
I studied him.
“You really think the truth could destroy your family.”
“My family has been destroying itself for years. The truth may simply make it visible.”
We approached the main entrance.
A single light burned behind a cracked window. Inside, the floor was covered with dust, broken pallets, and rusted metal tracks that no longer connected to anything.
“Stop there,” a voice called.
Victor Hale emerged from behind a concrete pillar.
He was taller than I expected, with silver hair, a tailored gray suit, and the composed expression of a man who had spent decades convincing other people that he belonged in every room he entered.
He held a pistol low beside his leg.
Adrian moved half a step in front of me.
“Where is Maureen?”
Victor smiled.
“Always direct, Adrian. Your father used to say that was your greatest strength and your most expensive weakness.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe enough.”
I held up the replica ledger.
“You wanted this.”
Victor's eyes shifted toward me.
“Quinn's daughter.”
“You knew my father.”
“I knew him better than he knew himself.”
“Did you kill him?”
His smile faded.
“Your father was a decent man who mistook stubbornness for courage. He could have walked away. He could have taken the money and kept his mouth shut.”
“So you killed him?”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“I didn't say that.”
“You didn't deny it either.”
He looked at Adrian.
“You should have left the girl alone. Her father made the same mistake you did. He thought the truth would protect him.”
Adrian's voice was cold.
“You used my name to steal from my company.”
“I used a system your father built. The money was already there. I simply directed it where it was needed.”
“Needed by whom?”
“By the people who kept your family powerful.”
“Don't pretend this was loyalty.”
Victor laughed.
“Loyalty? Your father trusted me for twenty years. He gave me access to every account, every shipment, every private agreement. Then he started asking questions because a few numbers didn't balance.”
He raised the pistol slightly.
“Do you know what happens to a man who knows too much about a family like yours?”
Adrian didn't blink.
“He gets a chance to explain himself.”
“No. He gets buried.”
Victor's gaze returned to me.
“Give me the ledger.”
I held it out.
He took a step forward.
Then he stopped.
“Open it.”
I did.
The pages were blank.
Victor's face changed.
“You little—”
“The original is safe,” I said. “The police have copies. Every transfer, every signature, every company. They know what you did.”
For the first time, his composure cracked.
“You think paper can stop me?”
“No,” I replied. “But witnesses can.”
A sound echoed from the far side of the depot.
“Police! Drop the weapon!”
Victor spun toward the voice.
The next few seconds happened too quickly for me to understand. Adrian pulled me behind a concrete barrier. Officers rushed through the entrance. Someone shouted. A gunshot struck the metal railing overhead.
Then Victor dropped to his knees, his weapon skidding across the floor.
The officers secured him.
I looked around wildly.
“Where is Maureen?”
Victor said nothing.
An officer searched his pockets and found a key card.
Another found a phone.
The detective examined the screen, then turned toward us.
“We have an address.”
“Is she there?” I demanded.
“We're checking.”
Adrian touched my shoulder.
“Stay behind me.”
I stepped away from his hand.
“I can stand on my own.”
He nodded, accepting the correction.
Then the detective's phone rang.
He listened, his expression growing darker.
When he ended the call, he looked at me.
“The address was a decoy.”
My heart dropped.
“Then where is she?”
The detective hesitated.
Victor began to laugh.
And through the open depot doors, a second vehicle pulled into the yard.
A woman stepped out.
She was wearing Maureen's white coat.
May you like
But it wasn't Maureen inside it.
It was Chelsea.
