Chapter 14 - Charles Vane Walked Into the Wrong Building
Vane never reached the elevator.
Federal agents stopped him on level three.
He ran.
That was his final mistake.
Security cameras captured everything.
He crossed the parking deck.
Jumped a barrier.
Tried reaching a waiting vehicle.
The driver abandoned him.
Vane made it another thirty yards.
Then agents surrounded him.
"Hands where we can see them!"
Vane froze.
For years, he'd survived because everyone around him was useful, frightened, greedy, or compromised.
Now none of those things mattered.
He raised his hands.
They arrested him.
I watched from the security room.
No dramatic fight.
No grand speech.
Just handcuffs.
Sometimes that's what real endings look like.
Quiet.
Final.
Then one agent entered the room.
"General Harrington?"
"Yes?"
"We need to talk about Derek Whitmore."
"What now?"
"He disappeared."
I turned.
"What?"
"He was supposed to meet investigators at ten."
"He never arrived?"
"No."
The agent placed a photograph on the desk.
Traffic camera.
Derek's car.
Heading south.
Beside him was a woman.
I looked closer.
I knew her.
Rebecca knew her too.
"Cynthia Moore."
Harrington Logistics' chief financial officer.
The woman who had personally approved several of the fraudulent transfers.
Rebecca whispered—
"They're running together."
I shook my head.
"No."
"What?"
I studied the photograph.
"They're not running."
I knew the road.
It didn't lead toward an airport.
It led toward the Harrington family lake property.
Dad's oldest private property.
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And inside that house was something Derek still desperately needed.
My father's original corporate seal.
