Chapter 6 - The Billion-Dollar BetrayalHollis and August had one advantage.
The notebook.
The original one Daniel had kept.
They analyzed every page.
The entries showed where money had moved.
But one code remained unclear.
A series of numbers appeared next to each transaction.
Hollis recognized it.
“Truck mileage.”
August looked.
“Meaning?”
“Daniel used route numbers to disguise account numbers.”
They reconstructed the data.
Three hundred million dollars.
Every transfer led to one destination.
A charitable foundation.
Run by Rafferty.
Hollis stared.
“He stole from workers and hid it in charity.”
“No.”
August pointed.
“He didn't hide it.”
“What?”
“He bought influence.”
Politicians.
Judges.
Police officials.
All paid.
Hollis felt sick.
Then another name appeared.
Her father's.
Hollis stared.
“He was paid.”
August shook his head.
“After he died.”
“So someone used his identity.”
“Yes.”
Her mother's name appeared too.
Then:
MARIN.
The dead woman.
August realized.
“Marin was the accountant.”
“She knew everything.”
“And she hid it.”
Hollis whispered:
“That's why Rafferty killed her.”
A sound came from the doorway.
Emma.
She had been listening.
“I know where she hid it.”
Hollis stared.
“What?”
Emma nodded.
“She gave me a box.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Where is it?”
Emma pointed toward the basement.
They searched.
Behind an old water heater was a metal container.
Inside was a hard drive.
Everything.
Rafferty's network.
The payments.
The murders.
The altered logs.
And a recording.
Rafferty speaking.
He admitted everything.
He admitted causing Daniel's death.
He admitted manipulating the truck.
He admitted threatening Hollis.
He admitted planning to kill August.
Hollis looked at August.
“We have him.”
August shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because we don't know who else is involved.”
He was right.
The hard drive listed dozens of names.
If they went public too quickly, people would disappear.
Including witnesses.
They needed protection.
August called a federal contact.
The contact agreed to meet.
But before they arrived, the building was attacked.
Hollis was trapped upstairs.
August fought his way toward her.
A fire spread through the lower floors.
Smoke filled the hall.
Hollis collapsed.
August found her.
He carried her.
“Stay with me.”
She coughed.
“My baby.”
“Alive.”
He got her outside.
Emergency crews arrived.
Hollis was rushed to the hospital.
August sat beside her.
Hours later, the doctor emerged.
“The baby is stable.”
August closed his eyes.
Hollis woke.
He was still there.
“You stayed.”
“Yes.”
“You're supposed to be running an empire.”
“I don't care.”
She looked at him.
That was when she knew.
The man beside her wasn't the man people feared.
Not anymore.
He was the man who would choose a frightened pregnant woman over a billion-dollar company.
She reached for his hand.
He took it.
“You love me.”
It wasn't a question.
August looked down.
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“I love you too.”
He closed his eyes.
For the first time in years, he let himself believe he might have something to lose.
May you like
Then the hospital lights went out.
Rafferty's men had found them.
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