Chapter 12 - THE CONFESSION IN THE SNOW
Lily felt the impact near her shoulder.
She fell backward into the snow.
Ethan rolled safely against her chest.
Victor fired toward the warehouse.
Marcus collapsed inside the doorway.
Serena released Lily and ran.
Victor could have followed her.
Instead, he dropped beside Lily.
“Stay with me.”
His hands pressed against the wound.
Blood spread across her coat.
Lily shook her head.
“It went through.”
Ethan was screaming.
Victor lifted his son first.
Then he pulled Lily upright.
“You saved him.”
“Get him to Dr. Reeves.”
Victor’s men captured Adrian inside the warehouse.
Marcus died before he could speak.
Serena escaped through a drainage tunnel.
At the ambulance, Dr. Reeves examined Lily.
“The bullet missed the artery.”
Victor closed his eyes for one brief second.
Lily saw relief in his face.
She also saw guilt.
Police sirens approached from several directions.
Victor looked toward his men.
“I did not call them.”
Lily did not answer.
Victor slowly turned toward her.
“You did.”
She reached into her bloodstained coat.
A small transmitter was clipped beneath the lining.
“I activated it before entering.”
Victor’s expression became unreadable.
“Who were you transmitting to?”
“The federal task force.”
Victor stepped back.
Dr. Reeves stopped working for a moment.
Lily forced herself to continue.
“Grace contacted them before her death.”
“She gave them evidence against Adrian, Serena, and members of your organization.”
Victor’s eyes hardened.
“And you agreed to finish what she started.”
“I agreed to protect Ethan.”
“You recorded everything tonight.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked at the approaching lights.
His entire empire could collapse because of the transmission.
His men waited for an order.
One word from Victor would turn the street into a battlefield.
Lily watched him.
“Do not make Ethan grow up in this.”
Victor looked down at his son.
Ethan’s uninjured hand held tightly to his father’s shirt.
The child had stopped crying.
Victor handed his weapon to the nearest agent when the task force arrived.
His men stared in disbelief.
Adrian began laughing from the ground.
“You think surrender will save you?”
Victor ignored him.
An agent placed handcuffs around Victor’s wrists.
Lily tried to stand.
“Victor.”
He looked back.
“There is something else you need to know.”
She held Grace’s flash drive.
“Your wife left a message about you.”
Victor’s face tightened.
“What did she say?”
Lily swallowed.
“She said you were not the man who ordered her death.”
May you like
Victor waited.
“But you were the reason they needed her dead.”
