Chapter 13 - THE LAST DEBT
David confessed with the confidence of a man who believed confession was another form of control.
He told us he had followed my father on the night of the crash. He said Arthur had discovered the hidden account and planned to expose the Bells. David claimed he only intended to frighten him into surrendering the evidence.
But fear, David said, had always been difficult to measure.
He had rammed my father’s car into the guardrail.
He had watched the vehicle spin across the ice.
He had called Dr. Grant before the police arrived.
He had taken the letter meant for me.
Then he had married me.
The call ended with a promise.
“Bring the case to the old foundry. If you don’t, Isabella dies before sunrise.”
Dominic wanted to move immediately. Mara insisted on waiting for tactical support. Every minute became a negotiation between law and urgency.
I stood by the motel window, watching snow gather on the parking lot.
“He wants us angry,” I said.
Dominic joined me.
“He wants you afraid.”
“He has always wanted that.”
“And now?”
I looked at him.
“Now I want him to understand what it feels like to lose control.”
The plan was simple. Mara’s agents would surround the foundry. Dominic’s team would enter through the western loading bay. I would carry the case and keep Marco talking. Isabella would be removed first. David would be arrested alive if possible.
The words alive if possible stayed with me.
At the foundry, the air smelled of oil and frozen steel. The building had been abandoned for years, but lights burned inside. Marco stood on the loading platform with a gun against Isabella’s temple.
David waited behind him.
He looked thinner than he had in the penthouse, but his eyes were clear. He had escaped because people like him always found doors ordinary people could not see.
I walked forward with the metal case.
Dominic remained out of sight.
“You came alone,” David said.
“You know I didn’t.”
“I know Dominic is hiding somewhere, pretending his restraint makes him better than me.”
“It does.”
David smiled without warmth.
“You think he won’t hurt you because he has manners?”
“I think he asks before he touches me.”
The smile disappeared.
I placed the case on the ground.
“Let Isabella go.”
“Open it.”
“Let her go first.”
“You’re learning to negotiate.”
“I had a good teacher.”
David nodded toward Marco. Marco pulled Isabella forward. She stumbled, but she remained conscious.
I moved toward her. Marco took the case.
“Now,” I said.
He opened it.
The ledgers inside had been replaced with blank paper.
Marco’s expression changed.
David slapped me across the face.
The blow was not as hard as the ones from our marriage. It still sent a wave of old fear through my body.
Dominic stepped from the shadows.
“Touch her again.”
David put his gun against Isabella’s head.
“One more step and she dies.”
Dominic stopped.
Behind him, Mara’s agents surrounded the building.
David looked toward the windows and laughed.
“You brought the law.”
“You’re out of exits.”
“No. You are.”
He pressed a remote control.
Gas began hissing through the pipes beneath the floor.
The foundry had been rigged to explode.
Marco looked at David in shock.
“You said we were leaving.”
“We are.”
“What about me?”
David shot him in the leg.
Marco fell, screaming.
Dominic fired at David’s weapon. The bullet struck his hand. Isabella dropped as Mara’s agent pulled her behind a steel column.
I ran to her.
David staggered toward the control panel. The gas alarm screamed. Dominic pursued him through the machinery.
I reached Isabella and cut the restraints with a knife one of Mara’s agents gave me.
“Can you walk?”
She nodded.
“My name is Claire.”
“I know,” she whispered. “Your father told me about you.”
The floor shook.
Dominic appeared at the far end of the room, dragging David by the collar. David’s face was bleeding, but he still smiled.
“Claire!” he shouted. “Tell him the truth.”
I pulled Isabella behind cover.
“What truth?”
David pointed at Dominic.
“His uncle was the one who gave me your father’s route. Salvatore wanted the account destroyed. He used me, then planned to kill me too.”
Dominic’s eyes went dark.
“You’re lying.”
“Ask him.”
A second voice came through the foundry speakers.
Salvatore.
“He isn’t lying about the route.”
Dominic froze.
“Uncle?”
Salvatore continued, “I gave David the route because Bell threatened Dominic’s life. I believed I could stop the crash. I was wrong.”
David laughed.
“There it is. The great Rossi secret.”
The gas alarm became a continuous shriek.
Salvatore’s voice broke.
“Dominic, take Claire and leave.”
Dominic grabbed David by the throat.
For one second, I thought he might kill him.
Then Dominic released David and turned to me.
“Run.”
We sprinted through the loading bay as the foundry exploded behind us.
Snow and fire rose together into the night.
May you like
When I looked back, David was no longer beside Dominic.
He had escaped through the flames.
