Chapter 13 - Mill Number Three
Mara's phone lay on the restroom floor.
The window above it was open.
Security footage showed a janitor pushing a laundry cart into the hallway. The janitor was not a hotel employee.
Inside the cart, for three frames, we saw Mara's shoe.
Victor had taken her.
Twenty minutes later, Michael received a video.
Mara sat tied to a chair in a dark room, blood at the corner of her mouth but eyes open.
Victor stepped into frame.
"Bring Andrew's affidavit and the flash drive to Mill Three. No police."
Michael swore.
Victor smiled. "You always were emotional. That's why Diane could control you."
The video ended.
Mill Three crouched beside the river like a dead animal, windows broken, loading bays rusted shut. Michael wore a wire. I stayed in a command van with Martinez, furious that he was going in at all.
Victor waited in the old dye room.
Mara was there.
So was a handgun.
"You brought it?" Victor asked.
Michael held up a folder. "Let her go."
Victor laughed. "You think this is about paper? The paper is only useful if you're alive to claim it."
My heart stopped.
Michael's voice stayed level. "So kill me and what? The DNA disappears?"
"No. But dead men don't vote shares."
He stepped closer.
"That was always Diane's problem. She thought family was about love. It's about control."
Michael glanced at Mara. "Funny. She just told the police where to find you."
Victor's smile vanished.
Officers moved in.
Victor grabbed Mara and fired once into the ceiling. Everyone ducked. He dragged her through a side door toward the loading dock.
Michael chased him.
I heard shouting through the wire, then metal crashing.
Martinez ran from the van. I followed despite every order not to.
At the river dock, Victor had Mara at gunpoint.
Michael stood ten feet away.
Victor shouted, "Ask your mother who signed the first transfer!"
Michael froze.
Victor looked straight at him.
"It wasn't Diane. It wasn't Robert."
May you like
His grin returned.
"It was you."
