Chapter 6 - The Woman Everyone Thought Was Adrian's Mistress
The vault became a battlefield.
Claire barely remembered the first gunshot.
Adrian moved in front of her.
Daniel tackled one of Crane's men.
Victoria dragged Sophie behind the vault wall.
Claire stayed low.
Crane disappeared through the smoke.
Adrian shouted, “Claire!”
She looked up.
“Run!”
“No!”
The floor beneath them shook.
Explosives.
Again.
Claire grabbed his hand.
“We leave together.”
They made it into the tunnel.
Daniel and Victoria followed.
Sophie stumbled behind them.
Once they reached an underground garage, Adrian looked at her.
“You lied to me.”
Sophie was crying.
“I was threatened.”
“By Crane?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he said he'd kill my daughter.”
Everyone froze.
Claire stared.
“You have a daughter?”
Sophie nodded.
“She's seven.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“Where is she?”
“Crane took her.”
He closed his eyes.
Claire understood.
This was why Adrian had always been obsessed with saving people.
He kept rescuing the same broken pieces of his past.
Sophie stepped toward Claire.
“There is something you need to know.”
“What?”
“Your husband never slept with Victoria.”
Claire blinked.
“What?”
Sophie looked at Adrian.
“Victoria was undercover.”
Victoria nodded.
“I was working inside Crane's financial operation.”
Claire suddenly understood every newspaper photograph.
Every rumor.
Every moment Adrian had refused to explain.
She looked at him.
“You could have told me.”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because Crane had an informant inside my organization.”
Sophie answered.
“Me.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You?”
“I didn't know whose side I was on anymore.”
Claire felt overwhelmed.
Everyone around her had lied.
But every lie seemed to be hiding another sacrifice.
A police siren sounded outside.
Daniel looked through the garage window.
“Federal agents.”
Adrian nodded.
“I called them.”
Claire stared.
“You contacted the police?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I can't solve this alone.”
It was perhaps the most important thing she had ever heard him say.
He was finally admitting weakness.
They escaped through a secondary entrance.
Outside, Claire saw a line of agents.
A woman in a dark suit approached.
“Adrian Cole.”
He raised his hands.
Claire panicked.
“What are you doing?”
“Something I should have done years ago.”
The woman identified herself as Special Agent Mara Ellis.
“We have evidence connecting Elliot Crane to the Meridian network.”
She looked at Claire.
“And we need your testimony.”
Claire nodded.
Then Adrian turned to her.
“If I disappear after this, don't wait for me.”
Her heart dropped.
“What?”
“I have to settle something.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“You promised.”
“I promised to protect you.”
“You promised we were going to do this together.”
He looked at her.
Then slowly nodded.
“Together.”
Mara Ellis led them into a secure vehicle.
For the first time, Adrian sat beside Claire without security between them.
He took her hand.
She held it tightly.
The drive lasted forty minutes.
Then the vehicle stopped.
Mara opened the door.
Claire saw a small house.
Inside was a little girl.
Seven years old.
Dark curls.
Brown eyes.
She ran directly toward Sophie.
“Mommy!”
Sophie fell to her knees.
Claire watched Adrian.
He smiled.
A genuine smile.
Then the little girl looked at him.
“Are you Uncle Adrian?”
He froze.
“You remember me?”
“She keeps your picture.”
Sophie looked embarrassed.
Adrian knelt.
“Hello.”
The child hugged him.
Claire turned away to give them privacy.
When she looked back, Adrian was crying.
No one had ever seen Adrian Cole cry.
Not openly.
Not like this.
Claire walked over.
He stood.
She took his face in her hands.
“You are not a monster.”
He laughed softly through tears.
“I've done bad things.”
“So have I.”
“You haven't.”
“I stayed when I shouldn't have.”
“That doesn't make you bad.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“It makes me stubborn.”
He kissed her forehead.
Then Agent Ellis entered.
“We found Crane.”
Everyone turned.
“He's at the Cole estate.”
Claire's blood went cold.
“Why there?”
Ellis looked at Adrian.
“Because he knows where the final archive is.”
Adrian stood.
“Then we're going home.”
Claire squeezed his hand.
“No.”
May you like
He looked at her.
“We're going to finish this.”
