Chapter 17 - Vanessa's Choice
Vanessa took the negotiator's phone with both cuffed hands.
"You told me Claire was an accident," she said.
Marcus answered, "And you believed me because it was convenient."
Her face tightened.
"You told me Oliver would be safe."
"You held him over a balcony. Don't pretend you discovered a conscience this morning."
The words hit hard because they were true.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"I did something unforgivable. But I'm done doing things for you."
Marcus laughed. "You think Adrian will forgive you?"
"No."
That answer surprised everyone.
"I think he'll make sure I answer for it. And I should."
Adrian watched her closely.
For the first time, Vanessa was not bargaining.
She was simply admitting what she had done.
Inside the hangar, Marcus grew more agitated.
Vanessa kept him talking long enough for police to move a tactical team behind the building.
Then Marcus heard something.
"What was that?"
Vanessa looked at the negotiator.
"Nothing."
"You're lying."
A shot echoed inside the hangar.
Everyone ducked.
Adrian's heart stopped.
Then the pilot ran out a side door.
"I'm okay!" he shouted.
Marcus had fired into the ceiling.
Police rushed in.
Marcus fled through the rear of the hangar toward a drainage field.
Adrian saw him through the fence.
For one irrational second, he wanted to chase him himself.
Grant grabbed his arm.
"Let them do their job."
Adrian stood breathing hard as officers tackled Marcus in wet grass fifty yards away.
It was over.
Or it should have been.
But when police searched Marcus, they found no flash drive.
No copy of Claire's financial evidence.
And no phone containing his full network of contacts.
Marcus smiled from the ground.
May you like
"You caught me," he said to Adrian. "You still haven't caught the company."
The next morning, Cole Holdings' internal servers began deleting themselves one department at a time.
