Chapter 14 - THE LAST FILEThey found the hospital hidden beneath an abandoned church.
There were no records.
No staff.
No cameras.
Only one guarded room.
Inside lay Daniel Bennett.
Chloe's father.
He looked at her.
For the first time in twenty years, she heard his voice.
“Chloe.”
She didn't move.
“You're alive.”
“So are you.”
He smiled weakly.
“I knew you'd come.”
Gabriel raised his gun.
“Where's the ledger?”
Daniel looked at him.
“You're Gabriel Costello.”
“Yes.”
“I always wondered what my daughter saw in your eyes.”
Chloe turned.
“She saw nothing.”
Daniel laughed.
“That would have been safer.”
Elise stepped forward.
“Tell them.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Your mother wasn't killed because of the ledger.”
“Then why?”
“Because she refused to hand it over.”
“Who wanted it?”
Daniel looked at Gabriel.
“His father.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
Daniel continued.
“He believed the ledger was enough to destroy him.”
“Wasn't it?”
“No.”
Daniel looked at Chloe.
“The ledger was bait.”
Chloe frowned.
“What?”
“Your mother knew she could never beat him with money.”
“So she built something else.”
Daniel nodded.
“A network.”
“Whose?”
“People like us.”
Police officers who wanted out.
Judges who had been threatened.
Accountants.
Journalists.
Witnesses.
People who had collected evidence for years.
Chloe whispered:
“Then why hide it?”
“Because the final file needed one thing.”
“What?”
Daniel looked at her.
“You.”
Chloe's stomach dropped.
“Me?”
“You were the last person your mother trusted.”
“I was a child.”
“Exactly.”
He reached beneath the mattress.
He pulled out a black envelope.
11:47.
Chloe opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
My daughter,
If you are reading this, then everyone I feared has finally found you.
Trust Beatrice.
Trust Elise.
But never trust the man who tells you he can keep you safe.
Chloe's eyes moved toward Gabriel.
The room went silent.
Gabriel whispered:
“Your mother knew me.”
Daniel nodded.
“She knew your father would use you.”
“Use me for what?”
Daniel looked at Gabriel.
“To find the final witness.”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“Who?”
Daniel pointed at Chloe.
“The witness isn't Chloe.”
A pause.
“She's the evidence.”
Gabriel stared.
Daniel continued.
“Everything was recorded.”
Chloe's face went pale.
“Where?”
Daniel whispered:
“Inside the one place your mother knew nobody would ever search.”
“What place?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Your brother's grave.”
Outside the room, a gun clicked.
Luca's voice echoed through the corridor.
May you like
“You should have stayed dead, Daniel.”
The lights went out.
