Chapter 11 - THE NAME HIDDEN ON THE FIRST PAGEI opened the red folder.
The first page was blank.
Almost.
At the bottom was a tiny line of numbers.
Garrett looked at them.
“Those aren't account numbers.”
“What are they?”
“Dates.”
My father had always hidden things inside dates.
Birthdays.
Anniversaries.
Important memories.
I whispered:
“July third.”
Garrett looked at me.
“My birthday.”
The numbers formed a code.
We entered it.
A hidden compartment opened beneath the floor.
Inside was a ledger.
Gertrude lunged for it.
Garrett stopped her.
She pointed the remote toward Evelyn.
“Move.”
Garrett stood.
For the first time, everyone saw him upright.
Gertrude froze.
Ethan's expression changed.
“You've been walking.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Long enough.”
Ethan smiled.
“Excellent.”
Garrett frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I didn't need you paralyzed.”
Ethan looked at me.
“I needed you believable.”
A chill ran through me.
“What does that mean?”
“You were supposed to inherit the company.”
I stared.
“Then why frame Garrett?”
“Because if you inherited directly, everyone would question the trust.”
Gertrude whispered:
“So the accident created the perfect explanation.”
Ethan nodded.
Garrett looked at his brother.
“You agreed to this.”
Douglas lowered his head.
“I didn't know everything.”
“You helped cripple me.”
“I didn't cripple you.”
“You drugged me.”
“I followed orders.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“You're all focusing on the wrong person.”
He opened the ledger.
Inside were pages of payments.
Names.
Judges.
Police officers.
Executives.
Politicians.
The network went far beyond Corbin Holdings.
Garrett's face hardened.
“This is enough to destroy them.”
Ethan laughed.
“Not if the ledger disappears.”
He set the book on fire.
I screamed.
Garrett lunged.
Ethan's men fired.
The room erupted.
Everyone scattered.
The flames spread across the paper.
I grabbed the ledger.
Half the pages tore away.
Garrett pushed Ethan into the wall.
Ethan shot him.
The bullet struck Garrett in the shoulder.
He fell.
“GARRETT!”
I ran to him.
He grabbed my hand.
“Go.”
“I'm not leaving you.”
“Rebecca, take the pages.”
I pulled the torn sheets from the burning book.
Christopher tackled one of the armed men.
Douglas kicked the gun away.
Gertrude ran.
Ethan disappeared through the vault exit.
Sirens sounded outside.
Real ones.
Police flooded the estate.
I thought it was over.
Then one officer pointed his gun at Garrett.
“Step away from the president.”
Garrett froze.
I stared at the badge.
Something felt wrong.
The officer looked at me.
“Rebecca Miller?”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Put your hands where I can see them.”
Christopher shouted:
“Don't!”
The officer fired.
Garrett pushed me aside.
The bullet missed my head by inches.
Then another officer shot the attacker.
He collapsed.
A federal agent entered behind them.
“Everyone stay down!”
She walked toward us.
“I'm Agent Nora Bennett.”
She looked at the ledger pages in my hands.
“Do you know what you've got?”
I nodded.
She shook her head.
“You don't.”
Then she looked at Garrett.
“The network isn't trying to steal Corbin Holdings.”
“What are they trying to do?”
She lowered her voice.
“They're trying to erase everyone who can expose it.”
Her eyes moved to me.
“Your father was one.”
“Garrett was another.”
May you like
Then she said:
“You are the third.”
