Chapter 17 - Five Minutes of Darkness
Maya heard shouting, boots, and something heavy hit the floor.
She dropped behind a steel pallet.
"Maya!" Thomas yelled.
A flashlight beam swept past.
Then federal agents breached the west entrance.
"FBI! Hands where we can see them!"
The warehouse erupted.
Victor's men ran.
One surrendered. Another tried a side door and collided with police.
Maya found Thomas near the table with blood on his forehead.
"You okay?"
"Ask me after my heart starts again."
Victor was gone.
A rear loading door stood open.
Outside, tires screamed.
Agents chased the fleeing SUV while Maya clutched the recorder.
Victor's confession was clear enough to hear.
It was also incomplete.
He had admitted intimidation and coercion, but not murder, pension theft, or bribery.
Thomas looked at Maya. "I'm sorry."
"You're going to have a lot of chances to say that under oath."
He nodded.
Ben arrived thirty minutes later despite being specifically told not to.
"You have a problem with instructions," Maya said.
"Common at my age."
He handed her coffee.
Then an agent approached.
Victor's SUV had been found abandoned near Lower Wacker Drive.
No Victor.
But inside the vehicle they found a folder containing recent photographs of Maya, Ben, Daniel, Mayor Mercer, and every vendor who had joined the lawsuit.
On the final page was a typed schedule.
Tomorrow, 7:30 A.M. - HARPER CART.
Ben stared at it.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Maya looked at the date.
The answer came instantly.
"It means Victor isn't running away."
May you like
She grabbed Ben's arm.
"He's going back to where this started."
