Chapter 17 - Midnight in the Garden
At 11:57 p.m., I walked into the garden carrying a leather case.
The cage stood under the lights exactly where Daniel had humiliated me.
This time, I entered by choice.
Marcus appeared from the conservatory with Stephen beside him.
My uncle's hands were bound.
"Open the case," Marcus said.
I did.
The blue ledger lay inside.
A copy.
Marcus did not know that.
"The recording?"
"Release Stephen first."
Marcus smiled.
"Still negotiating from inside cages."
"You spent twenty years believing frightened people were loyal people. That's your mistake."
His smile disappeared.
Stephen suddenly drove his shoulder into Marcus.
Everything moved at once.
Agents came through the hedges.
Marcus pulled a gun.
I dropped behind the iron wall as a shot cracked into stone.
Stephen fell.
Tessa tackled Marcus before he reached the conservatory door.
Two agents pinned him to the ground.
For several seconds, all I could hear was my own breathing.
Then Dad shouted my name.
I stepped out of the cage.
Stephen was alive. The bullet had grazed his shoulder.
Marcus was handcuffed on the lawn.
He looked up at Dad.
"You think this ends with me?"
Dad did not answer.
Marcus laughed.
"Ask your daughter what happens when investors learn the truth about Joliet. Ask her what happens to your precious name."
I looked at the guests' empty tables, the white flowers, the cage.
For years, every Whitmore decision had been about protecting the name.
I walked toward the waiting federal agent.
"You want the Joliet files?"
Dad closed his eyes.
May you like
I held out the original inspection report.
"Take them."
