Chapter 15 - The Shot in the Dining Room
Hale dragged Claire backward and pressed the gun against her ribs.
“Tell them to back off.”
Martin snapped, “Don’t be stupid.”
Hale laughed. “You’re the one who wanted witnesses alive.”
Rosa kicked the chair hard into Martin’s legs.
He stumbled.
Claire drove her heel down on Hale’s foot and twisted.
The gun fired.
The shot blew apart a crystal glass on the table.
Claire dropped to the floor.
The dining-room doors burst open.
“Federal agents! Drop the weapon!”
Hale fired toward the doorway.
Agents returned fire.
Hale collapsed behind the table, wounded in the shoulder.
Martin ran toward the side hall.
Claire saw him grab the ledger.
“Stop him!”
She chased him through the library.
Martin shoved a bookcase behind him, slowing her long enough to reach the terrace.
Daniel appeared outside.
Martin stopped.
Daniel raised both hands. “It’s over.”
Martin laughed. “You think you’re innocent?”
“No.”
That answer surprised Claire.
Daniel stepped closer. “I drugged my mother. I framed my wife. I broke the law. I’ll answer for it.”
Martin’s face twisted. “Then move.”
“No.”
Martin pulled a small pistol from inside his jacket.
Claire froze.
Daniel did not.
He moved between Martin and Claire.
Martin fired.
Daniel dropped.
Claire screamed.
Federal agents rushed onto the terrace and tackled Martin before he could fire again.
Claire ran to Daniel.
Blood spread across his white shirt near the ribs.
His eyes found hers.
“Claire…”
“Don’t talk.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Save it.”
He gave a weak laugh that turned into a grimace.
Claire pressed both hands over the wound.
Paramedics rushed in.
As they lifted Daniel onto a stretcher, an agent named Maya Torres approached Claire.
“We recovered your recording.”
“Good.”
“There’s a problem.”
Claire looked up.
“What problem?”
Torres lowered her voice.
“The ledger Martin took is not the original.”
Claire stared at her.
“What?”
“It’s a copy.”
Claire’s heart dropped.
The original ledger had been in her hands at Union Station.
If the one she carried home was a copy, then someone had switched it before she arrived.
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Only one other person had been alone with the box.
Evan Price.
