PART 14: THE LAST WITNESS
Victor Hale's finger tightened on the trigger.
The barrel of the gun was aimed directly at Richard Bennett.
No one moved.
Richard slowly stepped in front of me.
“Emily,” he said quietly, never taking his eyes off Victor.
“No matter what happens next…”
“…don't let him leave with that folder.”
Victor smiled.
“You're still trying to protect her.”
Richard nodded.
“I made a promise to her father.”
“And unlike you…”
“I keep my promises.”
The gunshot shattered the silence.
Bang!
Richard collapsed to one knee.
The bullet had torn through his shoulder.
Daniel rushed toward him, but Victor fired again.
The second shot struck the concrete floor just inches from Daniel's feet.
“Another step,” Victor warned, “and the next bullet won't miss.”
I looked at my husband.
He was still alive, barely conscious, struggling to breathe.
For the first time since I had met him…
I saw fear in his eyes.
Not fear of dying.
Fear of Victor.
He reached toward me with a trembling hand.
“Emily…”
“I was wrong…”
“Please…”
“Don't let him take it.”
Victor laughed.
“So now you finally understand.”
“You were never my partner.”
“You were just another disposable employee.”
My husband closed his eyes.
Everything he had sacrificed…
His marriage.
His lies.
His betrayal.
None of it had mattered.
He had been used from the very beginning.
Richard forced himself back to his feet despite the blood running down his arm.
“Emily…”
“There is something your father never told anyone.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“No.”
Richard ignored him.
“The investment company…”
“…was never the real inheritance.”
I stared at him.
“Then what was?”
Richard slowly reached into his coat pocket.
He pulled out a tiny silver key.
Smaller than the one that opened the vault.
“This opens Safety Deposit Box 11.”
“At First National Bank.”
“Inside…”
“…is the original confession.”
Victor's face turned pale.
For the first time…
he looked genuinely afraid.
“You're lying.”
Richard shook his head.
“The confession was recorded twenty-three years ago.”
“It contains every name.”
“Every payment.”
“Every murder.”
“And the identity of the person who gave all the orders.”
The room fell silent.
Victor whispered,
“You destroyed it.”
Richard smiled through the pain.
“No.”
“I hid it where you would never think to look.”
Sirens suddenly echoed above us.
Police.
Dozens of them.
Someone had found the entrance to the underground vault.
Victor glanced toward the staircase.
Then back at me.
He knew his time was running out.
Without another word, he threw the black folder into the air.
Papers exploded across the room like snow.
As everyone instinctively looked up…
Victor reached into his pocket, pressed a small remote, and smiled.
A red light began flashing above the vault entrance.
Richard's eyes widened in horror.
“Everyone down!”
I looked at the blinking light.
Then at Victor.
He calmly spoke his final words before turning toward the exit.
“In sixty seconds… there won't be a vault left to search.”
