Chapter 7 - The Estate Where Everyone LiedThe Ror estate sat above Lake Michigan.
Lights burned behind every window.
Music played.
A gala was underway.
Again.
Sloan recognized the room.
It was the same room where Gideon had threatened her.
The same room where Cormack had found her.
Now they returned together.
Cormack wore a black tuxedo.
Sloan wore a silver dress.
This time, the shoes fit.
Gideon saw them.
His face changed.
“You came back.”
Cormack smiled.
“You invited me.”
Gideon looked at Sloan.
“Did he tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“That Cormack's father murdered your mother.”
Cormack stepped between them.
“Don't.”
Gideon laughed.
“Still protecting her.”
Sloan spoke.
“He didn't.”
Gideon frowned.
“How do you know?”
“Because I found the recording.”
The room went silent.
Gideon slowly lowered his glass.
“What recording?”
“The one proving your family funded the murder.”
Gideon's expression hardened.
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
She smiled.
“I sent copies to three newspapers.”
Cormack glanced at her.
She hadn't.
Not yet.
Gideon believed her.
That was enough.
He stepped closer.
“You have no idea what you've started.”
Sloan whispered:
“Neither do you.”
Then the lights went out.
Gunfire.
Screaming.
Glass shattered.
Cormack grabbed Sloan.
They moved toward the service hall.
A man attacked from the left.
Cormack dropped him.
Sloan kept moving.
They reached the basement.
A steel door blocked the way.
Cormack entered a code.
It opened.
Inside was the ledger.
The original.
Sloan stared.
Her mother's handwriting covered page after page.
She read.
Payments.
Names.
Dates.
Victims.
Then she saw her own name.
Beside it:
Trust beneficiary.
And below:
Protect through age thirty.
She looked at Cormack.
“I'm the reason they wanted me alive.”
He nodded.
“Not just alive.”
“Necessary.”
The ledger contained one final account.
The true ownership of Riverline.
Sloan controlled it.
Cormack looked at the numbers.
“They can't take Riverline without your signature.”
“That means—”
“They need you.”
She looked up.
“Then why were they trying to kill me?”
“Because they needed your brother to control you.”
Sloan understood.
Then someone applauded.
Victor Ror entered.
Older.
Smiling.
“You've finally understood.”
Gideon stood behind him.
Cormack's face became ice.
“You.”
Victor nodded.
“I was hoping you'd come.”
He looked at Sloan.
“Your mother was stubborn too.”
“You killed her.”
“Yes.”
Cormack stepped forward.
Victor raised a weapon.
“Not yet.”
He turned to Sloan.
“Sign the transfer.”
“No.”
“Tobias dies.”
“No.”
“Cormack dies.”
She looked at Cormack.
He nodded once.
“Don't.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“Don't sign.”
Victor smiled.
“You see?”
He laughed.
“He is willing to die.”
Sloan understood.
Cormack's plan was not to survive.
It was to give her a choice.
She lowered the pen.
“No.”
Victor's expression changed.
“Why?”
“Because I finally know what my mother wanted.”
“What?”
“She wanted me free.”
She dropped the pen.
Cormack moved.
Gunfire erupted.
Sloan ran.
Gideon chased her.
They reached the dock.
Snow covered the pier.
Gideon grabbed her.
“You ruined everything!”
She fought.
He slipped.
Cormack reached them.
Gideon raised his gun.
Sloan pushed him.
The gun fell.
Cormack grabbed Gideon.
Police sirens approached.
Victor fled.
But he didn't get far.
Daniel Vale was waiting by the car.
He blocked him.
“It's over.”
Victor stared.
“You were dead.”
Daniel smiled.
“Not today.”
The police arrested Victor.
Gideon.
Halloway.
And the remaining conspirators.
Sloan collapsed against Cormack.
“You're bleeding.”
“So are you.”
“I'm okay.”
He looked at her.
“Are you?”
She nodded.
Then:
“I think I am.”
He pulled her close.
For a moment, the storm disappeared.
Then Tobias called from the hospital.
Sloan answered.
“You're alive.”
He laughed.
“Unfortunately.”
She cried.
Cormack smiled.
The worst was over.
Or so they thought.
Because two days later, the media released the final document.
The document showed that Sloan had been legally married once.
At nineteen.
May you like
To a man whose name was:
Leon Voss.
