Chapter 11 - The Second Accident
The external drive contained everything.
Shipment numbers.
Dates.
Amounts.
Names.
Payments.
Richard Voss had stolen more than twelve million dollars in pharmaceuticals.
But one name shocked Gabriel.
Victor DeLorenzo.
His uncle.
The conspiracy reached inside his own family.
Gabriel stared at the screen.
Madison saw the pain before he hid it.
“You trusted him.”
“Yes.”
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't be.”
“Why?”
“Because now I know.”
The next morning, Gabriel arranged a meeting with federal investigators.
They never reached it.
A truck slammed into their SUV at an intersection.
Metal screamed.
Glass exploded.
Madison felt the world rotate.
Then darkness.
When she opened her eyes, the vehicle lay on its side.
“Gabriel?”
No answer.
“Gabriel!”
He moved.
“I’m here.”
Smoke entered the cabin.
Madison's seatbelt trapped her.
Pain burned through her back.
Gabriel cut himself free and reached her.
“Don't move.”
“The car—”
“I know.”
He supported her weight while cutting the belt.
For twenty-one days, sitting had been torture.
Now Madison had to crawl through broken glass.
She did.
Gabriel followed.
Seconds later, flames consumed the SUV.
They lay on the pavement.
Alive.
Gabriel looked at the truck.
Driver gone.
Not an accident.
Madison laughed weakly.
“What?”
She looked at him.
“They really don't want me sitting down.”
Gabriel stared at her.
Then, impossibly, he laughed too.
It was the first time she had heard it.
The sound lasted only seconds.
But in the middle of smoke, broken glass and terror, it felt like defiance.
They were still alive.
And Voss had just made his biggest mistake.
May you like
Because the external drive wasn't in the SUV.
Madison had mailed three copies the night before.
