Chapter 17 - Polk’s Last Move
The bullet struck the wall six inches above Mom’s head.
We dropped to the floor.
Police arrived within minutes.
The shooter was gone.
A rifle casing was found on a rooftop across the street.
Polk had not fled.
He was cleaning up.
Rebecca moved us into federal protection.
Mom hated it.
Ethan thought the safe house looked like a boring hotel.
I could not sleep.
At 2:00 a.m., Noah called from the hospital.
“I know where Polk is.”
“How?”
“He contacted me.”
“Why?”
“He thinks I still want the company.”
“Do you?”
Silence.
“Not anymore.”
I almost believed him.
Noah gave us a location.
The original Hayes Development headquarters.
Abandoned since Dad’s death.
Polk wanted the memory card.
“He thinks you have it.”
“I do.”
“Then he’ll come.”
Federal agents prepared a controlled exchange.
Mom refused to stay behind.
“This started because Michael tried to expose him.”
Rebecca argued.
Mom did not move.
“It ends with me looking him in the face.”
At midnight, we entered the old headquarters.
Polk appeared alone.
Sixty-seven years old.
Gray suit.
Calm expression.
Nothing about him looked like a murderer.
That was the terrifying part.
“You look like Michael.”
He said it to me.
I hated him immediately.
“He wasn’t my biological father.”
Polk smiled.
“He was still your father.”
Even he knew.
“Give me the card.”
“No.”
He looked at Mom.
“Caroline.”
She stared.
“You should have died six years ago.”
Polk sighed.
“So much trouble could have been avoided.”
Mom stepped forward.
“You killed my husband.”
“Harris killed him.”
“You ordered it.”
“That is difficult to prove.”
I held up the memory card.
“Not anymore.”
Polk smiled.
Then looked toward the upper windows.
“You think federal agents are watching?”
My stomach tightened.
“Yes.”
“So do I.”
He pressed something in his pocket.
The building alarms activated.
Steel security shutters dropped.
Agents outside were blocked.
Polk pulled a gun.
Mom moved in front of Ethan.
I stepped beside her.
“You won’t get out.”
Polk laughed.
“I don’t need to.”
He pointed toward the basement.
“This building sits above an old fuel storage system.”
My blood froze.
He had wired the building.
He wanted the evidence destroyed.
And everyone with it.
Then a voice came through the darkness behind him.
“No.”
May you like
Polk turned.
Victor stood in the hallway.
