Chapter 15 - The Enemy Inside Gallow Holdings
Gallow Tower was evacuated before they arrived.
Malcolm Vane had entered using Richard Hale's executive credentials.
Security footage showed him alone.
Victor knew better.
Arthur coordinated floor-by-floor clearance.
Harper's mother was transported to safety.
Harper refused to leave Victor.
The private elevator climbed.
Fourteen.
Harper looked at the number.
Victor noticed.
“You can still get off.”
She looked at him.
“Not a chance, Mr. Logistics.”
Despite everything, he smiled.
Forty-two.
The doors opened.
Victor's office was dark.
The city stretched beyond the glass.
Vane stood behind Victor's desk.
The red ledger lay open before him.
“How symbolic,” Harper said.
Vane looked at her.
“You really never learned when to be afraid.”
“I've been afraid almost constantly.”
“Could've fooled me.”
“That seems like your problem.”
Victor stepped forward.
“It ends tonight.”
Vane laughed.
“You released evidence against yourself.”
“Yes.”
“You destroyed your own board.”
“Yes.”
“You handed federal prosecutors your father's crimes.”
“Yes.”
“What exactly do you think you won?”
Victor looked at Harper.
“A future.”
Vane's smile faded.
He reached beneath the desk.
Arthur shouted through the earpiece.
“Victor!”
Vane raised a detonator.
“Your father's archive may have copies.”
He smiled.
“But buildings burn beautifully.”
Victor stared.
“You'll die too.”
Vane shrugged.
“I spent eleven years waiting for you.”
Harper looked toward the elevator.
Then at the fire suppression panel.
Victor saw her eyes move.
“No.”
She ignored him.
“Vane.”
The older man glanced at her.
“You want to know why Victor beat you?”
Vane's expression hardened.
“He didn't.”
“Yes, he did.”
Harper moved slowly toward the wall.
“You spent years studying his father.”
Victor understood her plan.
Keep him talking.
“You thought Victor would become Elias.”
Harper continued.
“You thought he'd choose power.”
Vane tightened his grip.
“He did.”
“No. That's why you lost.”
Harper reached the fire panel.
“He chose people.”
She slammed the emergency system.
Industrial shutters dropped.
Sprinklers activated.
The building's emergency power shut down.
Vane pressed the detonator.
Nothing.
Arthur's voice came through.
“Signal jammed.”
Victor moved.
He struck Vane's wrist.
The detonator flew.
Vane fought harder than Victor expected.
Years of rage powered him.
They crashed against the desk.
Harper grabbed the detonator.
Vane saw.
He lunged toward her.
Victor intercepted him.
Arthur and federal agents entered.
Within seconds, Malcolm Vane was on the floor.
Handcuffed.
Breathing hard.
He looked up at Victor.
“You think this changes what you are?”
Victor stood above him.
For years he might have answered with violence.
Instead:
“Yes.”
Vane laughed.
“You're still Elias Gallow's son.”
Victor glanced at Harper.
Then back.
“I'm more than that.”
Agents pulled Vane away.
Harper approached Victor.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
She examined the cut on his lip.
“No.”
Victor touched it.
“Minor.”
Arthur joined them.
“Richard Hale was arrested downstairs.”
“Samuel?” Victor asked.
Arthur's expression changed.
“Missing.”
Harper touched Arthur's arm.
“He'll contact you.”
Arthur nodded.
Maybe he believed it.
Maybe he didn't.
Victor walked toward the windows.
Below them, media vehicles surrounded the tower.
Gallow Holdings might not survive.
His reputation might not either.
But Malcolm Vane was finished.
Daniel Mercer was in custody.
Hale was arrested.
Harper was alive.
Victor felt something unfamiliar.
Relief.
Then Harper slipped her hand into his.
“Tomorrow is going to be terrible.”
Victor looked at her.
“Probably.”
“Lawyers?”
“Yes.”
“Reporters?”
“Yes.”
“Investigations?”
“Yes.”
“Coffee?”
Victor considered.
“Definitely.”
Harper smiled.
“Then we'll survive.”
He believed her.
For the first time in years, Victor wasn't certain what tomorrow would bring.
May you like
And for the first time, uncertainty didn't frighten him.
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