Chapter 16 - Brothers
Victor’s gun was aimed at Thomas.
Adrian stepped between them.
“Put it down.”
Victor laughed.
“You always were the good son.”
“You faked my death.”
“To keep you alive.”
“You signed the papers.”
“Because Rook would have killed you immediately if I refused.”
“You kidnapped Claire.”
“I hid Claire.”
Claire shouted, “You locked me in a room!”
Victor glanced at her.
“You kept trying to leave.”
“That is usually what kidnapping victims do.”
Under any other circumstances, Adrian might have laughed.
He did not.
“Why did you let Rook live?”
Victor lowered the gun slightly.
“Because twenty years ago he told me what Dad was really building.”
Thomas said, “He lied to you.”
“No. You lied to everyone.”
Victor looked at Adrian.
“North Star didn’t begin as an anti-corruption network. It began as a way to protect the Vale contracts.”
Thomas’s face hardened.
Victor continued.
“Dad bribed judges, buried investigations, bought cops. Then when people threatened to expose him, he collected dirt on them.”
Sarah whispered, “The blackmail files.”
“Yes.”
Thomas snapped, “I used leverage to prevent worse people from taking control.”
Victor smiled sadly.
“That’s what every tyrant says.”
Emily stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Everyone looked at her.
“My brother is somewhere with a man who threatens children. I don’t care which one of you started this twenty years ago.”
She looked at Thomas.
“I don’t care whether you call it protection.”
Then Victor.
“I don’t care whether you call it survival.”
Then Adrian.
“And I don’t care who wants revenge.”
Her voice shook.
“We get Noah first.”
Adrian nodded.
Victor lowered the gun completely.
“I know a way into the courthouse basement Rook doesn’t know.”
Thomas laughed.
“Impossible.”
“You taught me to hide exits from the people who build entrances.”
Mara unfolded the blueprint Claire had carried.
“Show me.”
Victor pointed to an old storm drain.
“Three blocks south. It connects to the courthouse boiler room.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Why should I trust you?”
Victor met his eyes.
“You shouldn’t.”
That answer was the first thing Adrian believed completely.
They divided quickly.
Sarah and Claire would stay with a security team once the jamming cleared.
Thomas would go with Adrian as bait.
Emily insisted on coming.
Mara objected.
Emily ignored her.
Victor led them out through the service tunnel.
Halfway across the lawn, floodlights snapped on.
Everyone froze.
A sniper laser appeared on Thomas’s chest.
Then one on Victor.
Then one on Adrian.
Rook’s voice boomed from hidden speakers.
“You were told to come alone.”
Adrian looked around.
“Noah!”
Rook laughed.
“He’s already at the courthouse.”
The red laser dot on Emily’s chest appeared last.
May you like
Rook said softly, “And now I know which one of you Adrian would die for first.”
