Chapter 13 - The Last TransferDerek Kane took the bullet meant for Victor. And Victor was smiling.
Derek hit the floor.
Richard screamed.
“Derek!”
We rushed toward him.
Claire called for medical assistance.
Victor was already moving.
He grabbed the briefcase beside him and ran through the side door.
Thomas chased him.
I stayed with Derek.
Blood spread across his shirt.
He looked at his father.
“Don't let him win.”
Richard was crying.
I'd never seen Richard Kane cry.
Not once.
Not even at his own mother's funeral.
He looked at me.
“Save my son.”
The ambulance arrived.
Derek was taken away.
Richard surrendered.
But before officers could take him, he grabbed my arm.
“Victor has the archive.”
“I copied it.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“The archive isn't the files.”
“What is it?”
“The people.”
I stared.
Richard explained that Victor had spent decades collecting compromising information on everyone who protected him.
Bankers.
Judges.
Police officers.
Corporate executives.
Government officials.
He kept their secrets in physical vaults.
Not digital.
He called them the Witness Rooms.
There were three.
Northstar was one.
The second was beneath an old hotel.
The third was under a private bank.
Victor needed the archive because if the authorities took him, he could release everything and bring dozens of powerful people down with him.
“That means someone will help him escape,” I said.
Richard nodded.
“They already are.”
My phone rang.
A hospital nurse.
Derek had survived surgery.
But there was a problem.
He had disappeared.
Someone had entered the hospital pretending to be a federal marshal.
The security cameras showed one person leaving with Derek.
Victor.
We found his location through the transfer logs.
An abandoned private bank.
Room 17.
Again.
The same number.
I realized the pattern.
Storage unit 17.
Hospital room 17.
The Mercedes key.
Room 17 was Victor's signature.
We entered the bank basement.
Rows of vault doors.
At the end was Room 17.
Victor stood inside.
Derek was tied to a chair.
My mother stood beside him.
Victor held a pistol.
“You're early.”
I raised the drive.
“You want this?”
“Yes.”
“The archive?”
“Yes.”
“The ledger?”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
Victor smiled.
“You.”
He wanted me because Blackwell was designed around my identity.
I was the final authentication key.
My biometric data.
My voice.
My financial history.
Everything required to release the evidence.
I understood.
Blackwell could only activate if I entered the final code.
Victor wanted me to do it.
“What happens after?”
“You die.”
“And then?”
“The evidence disappears.”
“You'll release the Witness Room files?”
Victor smiled.
“Yes.”
I looked at Derek.
He was watching me.
His hands were tied.
But his right hand moved.
Two fingers.
Then three.
An old signal.
I remembered.
Derek had used it when we were children during family events.
A game.
It meant:
WAIT.
I stalled Victor.
“You're afraid.”
His expression changed.
“You spent twenty years controlling people.”
I walked closer.
“But now you're asking me for permission.”
“I don't need permission.”
“Yes, you do.”
Victor's gun lifted.
I smiled.
“Because you can't open Blackwell without me.”
For the first time, Victor looked angry.
I pulled out my phone.
A red recording icon was visible.
Victor stared.
“What did you do?”
“Recorded everything.”
He laughed.
“You think that's enough?”
“No.”
I held up another device.
“There's a live transmission.”
Victor stopped smiling.
“To who?”
I pointed upward.
Police sirens began outside.
Then federal vehicles.
Claire had arrived.
Victor fired.
Derek moved.
The bullet struck him again.
He fell.
My mother lunged toward him.
Victor ran.
Richard appeared behind him.
The two men stared at each other.
Richard raised his gun.
Victor laughed.
“You won't shoot me.”
Richard's face was empty.
“Watch me.”
Victor turned.
Richard fired.
Victor dropped.
But as the officers rushed inside, Victor smiled.
“Too late.”
I looked at him.
He whispered:
“The final transfer already happened.”
My phone vibrated.
An automated message appeared.
BLACKWELL ACTIVATED.
Then:
98% COMPLETE.
I stared at the screen.
The evidence was being released.
But there was one more line.
99%.
Then:
RECIPIENT: UNKNOWN.
My blood went cold.
Someone else had triggered the system.
May you like
Someone we had not found.
Someone inside Blackwell.
