Chapter 14 - THE MAN BEHIND HIM
“Don’t move,” Adrian whispered.
Emiliano closed his eyes for half a second.
Of course.
Malcolm had never been running from Adrian. They were still working together.
Grace’s fingers tightened around Emiliano’s.
Malcolm pointed toward the desk. “Put the drive down.”
Emiliano had hidden the original inside his jacket.
“You kill me, the police get copies.”
“Copies can be challenged,” Malcolm said. “Originals are harder.”
Adrian shoved him forward.
Grace suddenly said, “You’re scared.”
Both men looked at her.
She was staring at Malcolm.
“You keep burning paper because you’re scared of Mommy.”
Malcolm’s jaw tightened.
“Be quiet.”
“She’s dead and you’re still scared.”
Emiliano almost laughed despite the gun in his back.
Malcolm stepped toward Grace.
That was his mistake.
Emiliano drove his elbow backward into Adrian’s ribs and pulled Grace down.
A gun fired.
The bullet shattered the portrait above the fireplace.
Mateo hit the door from the hallway.
Adrian swung toward it.
Emiliano tackled him.
They crashed into the desk.
Grace crawled beneath it.
Malcolm grabbed the burning folder from the fireplace and ran toward the balcony.
Mateo burst in as Adrian struck Emiliano across the face with the gun.
A second later Mateo slammed Adrian into the wall.
Detective Cross entered behind him.
“Drop it!”
Adrian’s weapon hit the floor.
Outside, Malcolm climbed over the balcony rail toward a maintenance ladder.
Emiliano ran after him.
“Malcolm!”
The older man looked back.
For the first time, his calm disappeared.
“Isabella wasn’t supposed to die!” he shouted.
Emiliano stopped.
Malcolm seemed to realize what he had admitted.
Detective Cross heard it too.
“So you ordered the sabotage?” she called.
Malcolm’s eyes darted toward the darkness below.
Then he jumped for the ladder.
His hand missed.
He fell one story onto the garden awning and rolled hard onto the grass.
Police surrounded him before he could stand.
Behind Emiliano, Grace crawled out from under the desk.
She looked at Isabella’s shattered portrait.
Then at Celeste, who had just reached the doorway.
May you like
Grace asked the question nobody wanted to answer.
“Did she know Mommy was going to die?”
