Chapter 9 - THE LAWYER'S LAST GAMBLEVictor Sloane looked exactly as Declan remembered him: silver hair, tailored suit, and the calm expression of a man who believed every problem could be solved with the right signature.
He had attended Declan's father's funeral.
He had delivered the eulogy.
He had stood beside Declan and promised to protect the Knox family legacy.
Now he held a gun in a deserted church.
“Put the photograph on the altar,” Victor ordered.
Declan didn't move.
“Where is Tommy?”
“Safe, for the moment.”
“That's not an answer.”
Victor sighed.
“You always were stubborn. Your father had the same flaw.”
“You killed him.”
“I prevented a catastrophe.”
“You shot him.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“Your father was about to surrender the entire organization to federal investigators. He believed he could confess his crimes and walk away with his soul intact. He would have taken hundreds of people down with him.”
“So you murdered him to protect yourself.”
“I protected the empire.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“Victor, let the boy go.”
Victor turned the gun toward him.
“Don't pretend you have a conscience, Arthur. You spent twenty years taking my money.”
“I was protecting Declan.”
“You were protecting your position.”
Arthur's silence was answer enough.
Declan placed the photograph on the altar.
“Now release Tommy.”
Victor gestured toward Mercer.
Mercer brought Tommy into the church from a side entrance.
Tommy's face was bruised, but he was walking.
Clary, watching through the security team's remote camera feed from the car, pressed a hand over her mouth.
Declan kept his gaze on Victor.
“You have the photograph. You have the old records. What else do you want?”
“The trust documents.”
“They're missing.”
“Then find them.”
“And Elena?”
Victor smiled.
“Find her first.”
Declan's mind raced.
“You don't know where she is.”
“Neither do you.”
“Then why have you spent twenty years searching?”
For the first time, Victor's confidence faltered.
“Because your father made a mistake. He believed he could leave the empire to his son and give his daughter a different life. He placed the legitimate holdings in a trust that Elena could claim when she reached adulthood.”
“And you want the money.”
“I want what should have been mine.”
“You were his attorney.”
“I was the man who built his empire while he played the noble patriarch.”
Victor's voice grew louder.
“Your father trusted me with everything. Then he decided to give the future to children who knew nothing about what he had sacrificed.”
Declan studied him.
“You didn't kill my father because he was going to surrender. You killed him because he was going to expose you.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“Enough.”
He raised the gun.
Arthur suddenly lunged.
The shot thundered through the church.
Arthur fell against the altar, clutching his shoulder.
Declan tackled Victor, and both men crashed into the front pews.
Mercer drew his weapon, but Tommy kicked a loose wooden board into his path. Mercer stumbled.
Declan struck Victor's wrist, sending the gun skidding across the floor.
Within seconds, the security team burst through the doors.
Victor was restrained.
Mercer was captured.
Arthur lay bleeding beside the altar.
Declan knelt beside him.
“Stay with me.”
Arthur grimaced.
“Don't sound so surprised. I told you I'd always be there.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you saved my father.”
Arthur swallowed painfully.
“I did save you. That part was real.”
Declan's eyes burned.
“Why didn't you tell me the truth?”
“Because I was afraid you'd become your father. You would have destroyed yourself trying to repair everything he broke.”
“And now?”
Arthur looked toward Victor, who was being dragged away.
“Now I think you might be better than both of us.”
The paramedics arrived.
As Arthur was carried out, Declan turned toward Tommy.
“Are you hurt?”
Tommy shook his head.
“Not badly.”
“Clary is waiting outside.”
Tommy's expression crumpled.
He rushed toward the doors.
Declan followed more slowly, carrying the photograph of Elena.
For the first time, he had uncovered the truth about his father's death.
But the trust documents were still missing.
And Victor had made one final statement before being taken away.
He had whispered that Elena wasn't the only person his father had hidden.
May you like
There was another child.
One whose existence could destroy everything Declan believed about the Knox family.
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