Chapter 17 - When the Guilty Turned on Each Other
Victoria ran down the staircase.
Renato pushed through the federal agents.
He struck one officer and followed her.
Alexander kept one arm around Emily.
“Stay here.”
“You know that has never worked.”
“It can begin tonight.”
He followed Luca into the stairwell.
Emily remained for three seconds.
Then she followed.
Victoria reached the sixty-ninth floor.
She entered an unfinished executive suite.
Construction plastic covered the walls.
Renato entered behind her.
“You kept a copy.”
Victoria faced him.
“I kept insurance.”
“You betrayed me.”
“You planned to blame me.”
“I planned to protect the organization.”
“You planned to protect yourself.”
Renato stepped closer.
“Give me the film.”
Victoria laughed.
“I spent four years cleaning your mistakes.”
“I destroyed Thomas Carter.”
“I paid Creed.”
“I controlled Cole.”
“I humiliated Eleanor.”
“And you still treated me like an employee.”
Emily stopped behind the plastic wall.
Her phone recorded every word.
Renato’s voice lowered.
“You were always an employee.”
Victoria slapped him.
He stared at her.
She immediately realized the mistake.
Renato grabbed her wrist.
Alexander entered the suite.
“Release her.”
Renato turned.
Victoria drove her knee into him and pulled away.
The microfilm fell.
Creed appeared from the stairwell.
He had escaped Luca during the struggle.
He reached for the film.
Luca struck him from behind.
The two men crashed through a temporary wall.
Victoria grabbed the microfilm.
She ran toward the construction elevator.
Emily stepped into her path.
“Give it to me.”
Victoria smiled breathlessly.
“Why?”
“Because Renato will kill you for it.”
“He will kill me without it.”
“Then testify.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
“You think prison is protection?”
“It is more protection than you gave my father.”
Victoria moved closer.
“Your father should have accepted the money.”
“You offered him money?”
“Enough to leave Chicago.”
“He refused.”
“He said his daughter would never respect a coward.”
Emily swallowed hard.
Victoria glanced toward Renato.
He had broken free from Alexander.
He ran toward them.
Victoria shoved the microfilm into Emily’s hand.
Then she pushed Emily inside the elevator.
“Go!”
The doors began closing.
Renato reached them.
He seized Victoria by the hair and pulled her backward.
Emily stopped the elevator.
She grabbed Victoria’s arm.
Alexander struck Renato.
Victoria fell inside.
The doors closed.
The construction elevator descended.
Victoria lay on the floor.
Emily held the microfilm.
Alexander stood over them.
“Why did you save her?” Victoria asked.
Emily looked down.
“Because I am not you.”
Victoria laughed weakly.
“You believe that makes you strong.”
“It makes me able to sleep.”
The elevator stopped at the lobby.
Federal agents surrounded them.
Victoria was arrested.
Creed was taken into custody.
Renato was captured near the sixty-eighth-floor stairwell.
The original microfilm was secured.
The boardroom broadcast had recorded Renato’s confession.
The blue ledger contained enough transfers to connect him to the attack.
For the first time in four years, the conspiracy seemed finished.
Then Victoria asked to speak with Emily privately.
They sat on opposite sides of an interrogation table.
Victoria wore a gray detention uniform.
Her diamonds were gone.
Without them, she looked smaller.
Not kinder.
Only smaller.
“I want immunity.”
“You are asking the wrong person.”
“I will testify against Renato.”
“You already confessed on camera.”
“Not to everything.”
Emily stared at her.
Victoria leaned forward.
“Renato did not create Crown.”
“Who did?”
“I do not know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“The symbol existed before him.”
“He received orders through private couriers.”
“From whom?”
“A person called the Patron.”
Emily almost laughed.
“That sounds dramatic.”
“So does Alexander Moretti.”
“That did not make him imaginary.”
Victoria’s eyes became serious.
“Renato feared the Patron.”
“He killed his own brother without hesitation.”
“But he feared that name.”
Emily touched the pendant beneath her shirt.
“Why tell me?”
“Because the Patron asked about you.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
“What did they want?”
“To know whether Thomas’s daughter remembered the bridge.”
Emily went still.
Victoria leaned back.
“You were never collateral, Emily.”
“You were a witness.”
A guard opened the door.
The interview was over.
Victoria stood.
She paused beside Emily.
“Renato was not trying to kill Alexander for control of the company.”
“Then why?”
May you like
Victoria’s expression held the first genuine fear Emily had ever seen.
“Because Alexander’s father discovered who truly owned it.”
