Chapter 18 - The Last Confession
The garage was nearly empty. Fluorescent lights buzzed over wet tire tracks and concrete columns.
Margaret stood on the second level with a pistol pointed at Ethan. His hands were zip-tied, one eye swollen, his shirt blackened by smoke. He was shaking but upright.
"Set the case down," Margaret called.
Claire did. "Let him go."
Margaret laughed. "You still want to save him? After what he did to your brother?"
"I want him alive to answer for it. That's different."
Ethan looked at Claire. "I'm ready to tell them everything."
"You will not ruin this family," Margaret snapped.
"You ruined it," he said. "I just kept it ruined by lying."
Margaret aimed the gun at Claire. "There are things you don't understand. I built a company from nothing. Riverbend was drowning us in lawsuits. The insurance money saved thousands of jobs."
"Fourteen people died," Claire said.
"I didn't order anybody killed."
"You ordered the building cleared by fire. You knew the exits were chained."
"Damon said the tenants would leave through the front."
"So you gambled with their lives."
Margaret's expression hardened. "I did what I had to."
Claire felt the microphone against her skin. She hoped Torres could hear every word.
"And you had Ellie kidnapped to protect that gamble?"
"I wanted the files. Damon took it too far."
"You keep saying that about the things people do for you."
Ethan stepped between them. "Mom. Put it down. I'm not hiding this anymore."
Margaret's hand shook. For a moment, Claire saw the old woman in the office again, swinging a golf club because she could no longer buy obedience.
A click sounded in Claire's earpiece. Torres's voice: "We have her admission. Get clear."
Margaret heard the faint sound. She raised the pistol.
Claire dropped behind a concrete barrier as the shot struck the wall. Officers rushed in from both ramps, shouting for Margaret to lower the gun. Ethan kicked the pistol hand. It clattered across the floor.
Three officers pinned Margaret down and cuffed her.
"This is a mistake," she said, still trying to sound like someone in charge.
Torres picked up the pistol. "No. This is an arrest."
Ethan stood with his wrists finally cut free. He looked at Claire but didn't approach.
"Will Ellie be okay?" he asked.
"She's alive," Claire said. "You can answer the rest in court."
May you like
Torres led him toward a waiting patrol car. He stopped and looked back.
"Claire," he said, "there's one part of the Riverbend story you still don't know. Tommy wasn't alone when he went back inside."
