Chapter 8 - THE LAST CONFESSION
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Paige pointed the gun toward Eric.
Eric pointed one toward us.
Margaret stood between them.
Gwen held onto my arm.
I looked at Paige.
Her hands were shaking.
"Put it down," I said.
She stared at me.
"Caleb..."
"Put it down."
She started crying.
"I never wanted this."
"You chose it."
"I know."
Eric stepped forward.
"Enough."
He raised his weapon.
Then Margaret moved.
She stepped between us.
Eric fired.
The bullet struck her shoulder.
She collapsed.
Gwen screamed.
I tackled Eric.
The gun skidded across the floor.
We crashed into the pews.
Years of anger exploded at once.
He was stronger than I expected.
But I had survived combat zones.
I drove him backward.
Daniel rushed toward us.
Then Paige screamed.
"STOP!"
Everyone froze.
She dropped her gun.
"I'll tell you everything."
Eric stared at her.
"Don't."
"I have nothing left to lose."
She pointed at the metal drive.
"The drive has everything."
She looked at me.
"Mom wasn't the one controlling the operation."
"Who was?"
She whispered a name.
I didn't recognize it.
Daniel did.
His face changed.
"Oh no."
"Who?" I asked.
"Charles Holloway."
I looked at him.
"Who is that?"
"A senior executive at the defense contractor."
My stomach dropped.
The same contractor that had paid my mother's companies.
Paige nodded.
"He recruited Eric."
"And my mother?"
"She was blackmailed."
"With what?"
Paige looked at Gwen.
"Me."
Gwen frowned.
"I don't understand."
Paige swallowed.
"When I was younger, I found documents."
"What documents?"
"Proof that the company was moving restricted equipment through private warehouses."
"And?"
"I copied them."
Eric had discovered it.
He threatened Paige.
Then he used Margaret to control her.
Margaret became part of the scheme because she believed she was protecting Paige.
But Paige eventually became deeper involved than anyone realized.
She signed documents.
Moved money.
Created shell companies.
She had become both victim and accomplice.
Then Gwen got sick.
"And that's when everything changed," Paige said.
"How?"
"Because Gwen discovered one of the medical files."
I looked at Gwen.
"What medical file?"
She looked confused.
Paige continued.
"One of the patients exposed to the warehouse materials was Gwen's father."
Gwen went completely still.
"My father?"
Paige nodded.
"Years ago, he worked at a transportation company contracted by the same defense network."
Gwen began to cry.
"No."
"Yes."
I looked at Paige.
"What does that have to do with her cancer?"
"We don't know."
The words hung in the air.
Daniel moved closer.
"That's enough speculation."
Paige shook her head.
"No."
She pointed to the drive.
"The drive contains chemical exposure reports."
Gwen whispered:
"From the warehouse?"
Paige nodded.
"Your father's case is in there."
Gwen stared at me.
"My father didn't die of natural illness."
I took her hand.
"I know."
"No."
She shook her head.
"I mean..."
She looked at Paige.
"He died because of them."
Margaret, bleeding on the floor, whispered:
"I tried to stop it."
Gwen stared at her.
"You had years."
Margaret began crying.
"I was afraid."
Gwen's face hardened.
"So was I."
The sound of sirens grew louder outside.
Federal agents surrounded the church.
Eric attempted to run.
He didn't get ten feet.
Paige surrendered.
Margaret was taken to a hospital.
The operation was over.
Or so we thought.
Two days later, Daniel came to my apartment.
He looked exhausted.
"We decrypted the drive."
I sat down.
"What did you find?"
He placed a folder on the table.
Inside were dozens of names.
Military personnel.
Contractors.
Doctors.
Accountants.
Politicians.
The network was enormous.
Then I saw one familiar name.
Mine.
I stared at Daniel.
"Why is my name there?"
He looked uncomfortable.
"That's what we need to determine."
"What does it say?"
He opened the file.
There was a payment record.
Dated twelve years earlier.
Before I joined the Army.
The recipient account belonged to...
Gwen's father.
I looked at Gwen.
She was standing behind me.
Her face went white.
"I don't understand."
Neither did I.
Then Daniel turned the page.
The transaction description contained three words.
PROJECT NIGHTFALL — FAMILY ASSET
Gwen whispered:
"Caleb..."
"What?"
"My father knew your family."
I stared at her.
She shook her head.
"No."
She looked at the documents again.
"My father didn't just know your family."
May you like
She swallowed hard.
"He worked for them."
