Chapter 10 - THE ACCOUNT THAT BOUGHT A LIFE
The old courthouse had been closed for twelve years.
Its marble steps were cracked, its windows boarded, and the bronze seal above the entrance had turned green with age.
Victor parked two blocks away.
Sadi sat beside him in the car, holding the metal box.
“Tell me the truth,” she said.
Victor kept his eyes on the courthouse. “About what?”
“My brother’s treatment.”
He said nothing.
“Victor.”
“Your brother’s first treatment was paid through the Costello Foundation.”
“You said it was charity.”
“It was.”
“Controlled by Rafael?”
“Partly.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because the money saved Sam’s life.”
“And because you wanted me dependent?”
“No.”
“Dario said my debt was arranged.”
“It was.”
Sadi looked at him.
Victor finally turned. “Rafael arranged the loan through Mick. I discovered it six months ago.”
“Six months?”
“I was trying to find out why.”
“Why did you keep me working here?”
“Because removing you would have warned them.”
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than a lie.
Sadi looked away.
Victor continued, “But the salary was real. The medical payments were real. I never intended for you to remain trapped.”
“You could have told me.”
“If I had, you would have confronted Mick. He would have disappeared, and we would never have found the network.”
“My brother was almost kidnapped.”
“I know.”
“You let me walk into danger.”
“I protected you as much as I could.”
“That isn’t enough.”
“No,” Victor said. “It isn’t.”
The courthouse clock chimed eleven.
Sadi opened the metal box.
The cassette tape lay inside.
Victor stared at it.
“Do you have a player?”
“In the courthouse.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Rafael wants us to hear something.”
They entered through a side door.
The lobby was dark except for a strip of light beneath the courtroom doors.
Victor raised his weapon.
Sadi held the box close.
They entered.
Rafael Costello stood behind the judge’s bench.
He was older than the photograph, but his gray hair and broken-crown ring were unmistakable.
Mick stood beside him, bruised but alive.
Several armed men lined the walls.
Rafael smiled. “Victor.”
“Rafael.”
“You brought the maid.”
“She has a name.”
Rafael looked at Sadi. “Yes. Sadi Hayes.”
Sadi felt her stomach turn.
“You remember me,” she said.
“Of course. Your father’s little shadow.”
“You were at the blue house.”
“I was.”
“You killed him.”
Rafael’s smile faded. “Your father betrayed the family.”
“He tried to protect me.”
“He tried to destroy everything.”
Victor stepped forward. “What do you want?”
“The box.”
Sadi held it tighter.
Rafael pointed to the courtroom screen.
A video began.
Sadi saw the blue house.
The image was old, grainy, and filmed from outside the property.
Her father stood on the porch, arguing with a younger Rafael.
Victor’s father was there too.
Sadi watched her father hand over a thick ledger.
Rafael grabbed it.
Victor’s father said something the recording could not capture.
Then a gunshot sounded.
Her father fell.
Sadi covered her mouth.
The younger Victor appeared at the edge of the frame.
He ran toward the house.
Rafael turned and fired at him.
Victor’s father shoved Victor aside and took the bullet.
Sadi watched in horror as the older man fell.
Rafael disappeared into the darkness.
The recording ended.
The courtroom remained silent.
Victor’s face had become stone.
“You knew,” Sadi whispered.
“I knew Rafael was there,” Victor said. “I didn’t know my father had saved me.”
Rafael sighed. “Your father was weak. He chose sentiment over power.”
“You killed both of them,” Victor said.
“I removed obstacles.”
Sadi opened the box.
Rafael’s eyes fixed on the cassette.
“What else is there?” he asked.
“My father’s voice.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
Rafael nodded toward the doors.
Mick brought Sam into the courtroom.
Sadi’s heart stopped.
Sam looked exhausted, a bandage wrapped around his arm.
Rafael placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Your brother’s treatment begins tomorrow,” he said. “Unless I cancel the account.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I would.”
Victor’s weapon remained aimed at Rafael. “Release him.”
“Give me the tape.”
Sadi looked at Victor.
He gave the smallest shake of his head.
Do not.
She understood.
The tape was more important than it appeared.
Rafael stepped closer. “Your father recorded everything. Names. Payments. Orders. The tape will destroy me.”
“And you’ll destroy my brother?”
“I’ll let nature take its course.”
Sadi looked at Sam.
Her brother gave a faint shake of his head.
Don’t give it to him.
The room changed.
Every person watched Sadi.
Then she dropped the metal box.
It struck the floor and opened.
The cassette slid beneath the judge’s bench.
Rafael turned.
Sadi ran.
Victor fired into the ceiling.
Chaos erupted.
Elias crashed through the rear doors with his team.
Mick dragged Sam toward the side exit.
Sadi dove beneath the bench and grabbed the cassette.
A gunshot struck the wood above her.
Victor seized her hand and pulled her through a hidden door behind the courtroom.
They ran into a narrow corridor.
Sadi clutched the tape.
Victor slammed the door behind them.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Out.”
“What about Sam?”
“Elias has him.”
They reached a stairwell.
Behind them, Rafael shouted.
Victor pushed Sadi down the steps.
She stumbled.
He caught her before she fell.
For one moment, they stood pressed together in the darkness.
His hand rested against her waist.
Her fingers gripped his shirt.
Neither spoke.
Then Victor’s phone rang.
Elias’s voice came through.
“Victor, we have Sam.”
May you like
Sadi exhaled.
Then Elias added, “But Rafael escaped with the hospital account.”
