Chapter 9 - THE LAST LIE
Lucas was not arrested that night. His lawyers secured a delay, but the warrant changed everything. The conspiracy had moved from hidden rooms into public view. News vans crowded outside the mansion. Commentators called him a crime boss, a murderer, and a man who had staged his own family’s deaths.
Victor had made sure the public would see the story he wanted.
Lucas sat in the study with the ledger open before him. “If I run, he wins.”
“If you stay, he can use the warrant to put you in a cell,” Marco replied.
“Then we prove the truth.”
Isabella placed a hand on Lucas’s shoulder. “We have the evidence. We need someone outside the family to verify it.”
Elena looked toward the hallway. “Thomas once mentioned a federal investigator. A woman who had been asking about the Bellweather Foundation. He said she was the only person he trusted in law enforcement.”
“What was her name?” Lucas asked.
“Agent Rebecca Sloan.”
Marco searched the name. The investigator had been transferred after a corruption inquiry, but she was still with the federal task force. Lucas sent her a message through his attorney, attaching the ledger and Thomas’s recording.
She replied in twelve minutes.
Meet me at the old conservatory. Bring the original files. No weapons.
Lucas agreed.
He did not tell Victor.
At the conservatory, Agent Sloan arrived with two colleagues. She listened to the recording, studied the payment trail, and examined the photographs. Her expression grew darker with every page.
“This is enough to open a major investigation,” she said. “But it won’t protect your family tonight.”
“Victor knows where we live.”
“Then you need to move them.”
Lucas shook his head. “If I move them, he’ll follow.”
Sloan leaned closer. “He already has.”
A notification appeared on Lucas’s phone. The mansion’s alarm system had detected an entry at the west garden door.
Lucas called Marco.
No answer.
He tried again.
A voice picked up. It was Victor.
“Hello, old friend.”
Lucas went cold. “Where is my family?”
“Safe, for the moment. I’ve learned to appreciate children. They make excellent leverage.”
“If you touch them—”
“Don’t waste your breath. Bring the original ledger to the mansion. Come alone. I’ll trade you what you want.”
“What do you want?”
Victor laughed softly. “What I’ve always wanted. Your chair.”
Lucas turned to Agent Sloan. She was already signaling her team.
He drove back with the original ledger in a locked case. The mansion was dark. The front doors stood open. Inside, furniture had been overturned, and the sunroom piano lay on its side.
“Victor!”
A voice answered from the upper floor. “Study.”
Lucas climbed the stairs. Victor stood beside the desk, holding a pistol. Isabella was tied to a chair. Daniel and Lily were nowhere in sight.
“Where are the children?” Lucas asked.
“Somewhere they can hear you.”
A small sound came from the hallway. Lily’s voice, trembling but clear.
“Mr. Lucas?”
Victor smiled. “They’re in the service tunnel. My men are watching them.”
Lucas set the case on the floor.
“Let her go.”
“Open it.”
Lucas opened the case. The ledger lay inside.
Victor approached. “You could have given me the empire without all this trouble.”
“You never wanted the empire. You wanted to punish me for being chosen.”
Victor’s smile vanished.
For the first time, Lucas saw the bitterness underneath the polished loyalty. Victor had been the son of a captain who believed Lucas’s father should have passed the throne to him. He had spent his whole life standing one step behind the Moretti heir.
“You had everything,” Victor said. “The name. The money. Isabella. A son. I had to build my place with scraps.”
“You chose to destroy innocent people.”
“I chose to survive.”
A siren sounded outside.
Victor grabbed Isabella and pulled her against him. “Tell them to back away.”
Lucas looked at Isabella. She gave the slightest nod.
Then the lights snapped on.
Agent Sloan’s team stormed the hallway. Victor fired once, missing Lucas by inches. Lucas lunged, knocking the weapon from his hand. They crashed against the desk. Victor struck him hard, but Lucas held on until Marco appeared and forced Victor to the floor.
From the service tunnel came Daniel’s voice.
May you like
“Dad!”
Lucas ran.
