Chapter 17 - The Garage
The old garage looked smaller than Graham remembered.
The roll-up door was half open. Rainwater ran along the cracked concrete. Inside, one fluorescent light flickered above two folding chairs.
Victor stood near the workbench.
“You came.”
“You asked.”
“Did you bring the ledger?”
“No.”
Victor smiled. “You always were stubborn.”
Graham kept his hands visible. A tiny microphone was clipped beneath his collar. Nina and the police team were positioned outside, waiting for a signal.
Victor poured two drinks from a bottle on the bench.
“To the old days.”
Graham did not touch the glass.
“Why did you do it?”
Victor’s smile faded. “Do what?”
“Steal from the company. Frame Daniel. Fake Elise’s death. Use a child as leverage.”
Victor stared at him.
“You make it sound ugly.”
“It is ugly.”
“We built that company together. I kept it alive while you played visionary. You got the headlines. You got the awards. I got the work.”
“You got the money.”
“I got what I earned.”
“You took money from injured employees.”
“They were numbers on a report. People forget. Markets move. Companies survive.”
Graham felt sick.
“And Elise?”
Victor’s jaw tightened. “She was going to ruin everything.”
“She was my wife.”
“She was a threat.”
“You let me bury an empty coffin.”
Victor stepped closer. “I gave you a life. You would have been nothing without me.”
Graham looked around the garage. The old desks were gone. The walls had been repainted, but he could still see where they had once taped their first company logo.
“No,” he said. “I would have been a man. That was enough.”
Victor’s eyes hardened.
“You think you can walk away from this?”
“I’m not walking away. I’m ending it.”
Victor reached beneath the workbench.
The police team moved.
May you like
But Victor was faster than Graham expected. He grabbed a metal bar and swung. Graham ducked, stumbled into a chair, and hit the floor. The microphone tore from his collar.
A gunshot cracked through the garage.
