Chapter 7 - Victor's Version of the Truth
Gabriel stood between Victor and Beatrice.
“You came personally.”
Victor's smile remained calm.
“I was tired of sending people who disappoint me.”
Anthony held the first attacker against the floor.
Blood ran from Anthony's forehead.
Victor glanced at him.
“You always were loyal.”
Anthony spat near his shoe.
Victor ignored it.
His eyes moved to Chloe.
“And you must be the waitress.”
Chloe clutched the case.
“Apparently I give memorable service.”
Victor smiled.
“Leo had the same mouth.”
Everything inside Chloe stopped.
Gabriel's expression changed.
“What did you say?”
Victor kept looking at Chloe.
“Your brother was inconvenient too.”
Chloe felt the floor disappear beneath her.
Gabriel moved.
Victor raised the gun.
“Don't.”
Gabriel stopped.
Chloe could barely breathe.
“You knew him.”
Victor tilted his head.
“I met him once.”
“Why?”
“He had something I needed.”
“The trust?”
Victor smiled.
“Very good.”
Beatrice stepped forward.
Gabriel pushed her back.
Victor looked at her.
“You always underestimated the trouble you caused.”
Beatrice signed furiously.
Victor could not understand.
Chloe did.
She says you were always a coward.
Victor's smile faded.
Chloe continued.
“She says Carlo knew it.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“And she says your brother knew it too.”
“Enough.”
Victor's voice sharpened.
Beatrice smiled.
Chloe realized she had found the nerve.
She kept translating.
“She says you were never angry that Gabriel inherited the company.”
Victor looked at Gabriel.
“You don't know what she's saying.”
Gabriel's eyes remained on Chloe.
“Keep going.”
Beatrice signed.
“He was angry because Carlo knew Victor would destroy it.”
Victor raised the weapon.
“Stop.”
Gabriel moved half a step.
Victor aimed at him.
Chloe's pulse thundered.
Then Beatrice signed something unexpected.
Ask him about Mercer.
Chloe looked at Victor.
“What did Dean Mercer do for you?”
Victor's eyes flickered.
That was enough.
Chloe saw it.
Gabriel saw it.
Anthony saw it.
Victor recovered quickly.
“A drunk who worked for one of my companies.”
“Did you send him to St. Matthew's?”
“No.”
“Did you know Leo Bennett?”
“I told you.”
“Did you order Mercer to follow him?”
Victor looked bored.
“This melodrama is wasting time.”
Chloe's hands shook.
“Did you have my brother killed?”
Victor smiled slightly.
Gabriel took one step.
The smile vanished.
Victor raised the gun again.
“Be careful.”
Gabriel's voice was frighteningly calm.
“If the answer is yes, that gun isn't enough.”
Victor stared at him.
Then he laughed.
“Your problem, Gabriel, has always been sentiment.”
“My problem?”
“You think loyalty is love.”
Victor's eyes moved toward Beatrice.
“You think blood means people deserve protection.”
Then Chloe.
“You think one exhausted waitress matters because she made your mother laugh.”
Gabriel's expression did not change.
Victor continued.
“That is why men like me spend decades cleaning up after men like you.”
Chloe looked at the case.
“Then why are you so scared of a piece of paper?”
Victor's face darkened.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
He aimed at her.
Gabriel moved instantly.
A shot cracked through the archive room.
Chloe dropped.
Anthony lunged.
Beatrice threw a metal bookend.
It struck Victor's wrist.
His gun hit the floor.
Gabriel slammed him against the wall.
Anthony's prisoner escaped toward the hallway.
Anthony fired after him.
Chloe crawled toward Beatrice.
“Are you hurt?”
Beatrice shook her head.
Gabriel hit Victor once.
Then again.
Victor laughed through blood on his lip.
“Go ahead.”
Gabriel stopped.
Victor leaned closer.
“Kill me and you never learn what happened to the boy.”
Chloe froze.
Gabriel's fist remained raised.
Victor smiled.
“That got her attention.”
Chloe stood.
“What happened to Leo?”
Victor looked at her.
“Get me out of here alive.”
Gabriel grabbed his collar.
“You don't negotiate.”
Victor's smile widened.
“You need me.”
Chloe opened the document case.
Inside were several folders.
A leather-bound trust.
Letters.
Financial records.
And a small envelope with Chloe's name.
She stared.
CHLOE BENNETT.
The handwriting belonged to Leo.
Her knees nearly failed.
Beatrice saw it.
Chloe touched the envelope.
“How?”
Beatrice signed.
Leo gave it to me.
“When?”
The week before he died.
Chloe could not breathe.
“He knew?”
Not everything.
Chloe opened the envelope.
Inside was one folded page.
Her brother's handwriting covered both sides.
Chlo.
If Mrs. B ever gives you this, it means something went wrong and I wasn't able to explain it myself.
I know how dramatic that sounds.
Don't make that face.
Chloe almost laughed through tears.
She continued reading.
A man came to the church asking about a case Mrs. B hid.
I told him I didn't know anything.
He didn't believe me.
He followed me twice.
I got his plate.
I gave it to someone I trust.
If this gets weird, talk to Detective Aaron Walsh.
He knows.
Please don't go after anyone yourself.
You are five feet four and mean, but that is not the same as bulletproof.
Chloe pressed a hand over her mouth.
At the bottom was a license plate number.
Gabriel looked over her shoulder.
Anthony read it aloud.
Victor went pale.
Chloe saw him.
“That plate means something.”
Victor said nothing.
Gabriel looked at Anthony.
“Run it.”
“No signal.”
“We do it outside.”
Sirens began approaching in the distance.
Victor smiled.
“Those aren't police for me.”
Gabriel looked toward the window.
Anthony moved to the doorway.
Headlights filled the alley.
Three black SUVs stopped outside.
Men stepped out.
Anthony swore.
“Victor's.”
Victor laughed.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance.”
Gabriel picked up Victor's gun.
“No.”
He aimed it at Victor's knee.
“Gabriel.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
Gabriel fired.
Victor collapsed screaming.
Chloe flinched.
Beatrice did not.
Gabriel looked down at his uncle.
“I decided I still want answers.”
He turned toward Chloe.
“Can you run?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
They escaped through the church basement.
The document case stayed in Chloe's arms.
Gunfire echoed above them.
Gabriel led them through an old tunnel connecting the rectory to the school building.
They emerged two streets away.
Anthony stole an abandoned renovation van.
Nobody objected.
As they drove, Chloe unfolded Leo's letter again.
Detective Aaron Walsh.
She knew the name.
Walsh had investigated Leo's accident.
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
“He was the detective who told me Mercer was drunk.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“That could be good.”
May you like
Chloe shook her head.
“Or it means he buried everything.”
