Chapter 19 - MIDNIGHT AT PIER SEVENTEEN
Cold rain swept across the harbor.
Pier Seventeen had been abandoned for nearly a decade.
Rust covered the old warehouse doors.
Daniel entered through the eastern loading bay.
Noah moved along the upper walkway.
Thomas waited with federal agents two blocks away.
Daniel had agreed to signal them only after confirming Olivia was alive.
A single light burned inside the warehouse.
Olivia sat beside a metal table.
Her silver wedding gown had been replaced with dark pants and a bloodstained coat.
A doctor stood behind her.
Daniel recognized him.
Dr. Samuel Reeves from the psychiatric center.
“You were part of it,” Daniel said.
Reeves raised a gun.
“I managed the medical evidence.”
Olivia looked at Daniel.
“I told you the investigation was compromised.”
“Why is he still alive?”
“Because he knows where Richard stored the original records.”
Reeves laughed.
“She thinks we are negotiating.”
Daniel kept his hands visible.
“Where is the ledger?”
Olivia touched the table.
“Beneath the metal panel.”
Reeves moved toward it.
A laser point appeared against his chest.
Noah had a clear shot from the walkway.
Daniel gave no signal.
He needed Reeves talking.
“You falsified my toxicology test.”
“I falsified dozens of reports for Senator Mercer.”
“And now you want the ledger.”
“I want insurance.”
Olivia slowly reached inside her coat.
Reeves aimed the gun at her.
“Don’t.”
She removed a small remote control.
“The ledger has already been copied.”
Reeves’s confidence disappeared.
“Where did you send it?”
“To every major federal office, six newspapers, and three international watchdog groups.”
“You’re lying.”
Olivia pressed the button.
Phones vibrated throughout the warehouse.
Daniel’s device displayed a successful file transfer.
Reeves fired.
Daniel dove toward Olivia.
The bullet struck the metal table.
Noah shot the weapon from Reeves’s hand.
Federal agents stormed the warehouse.
Reeves ran toward the rear exit.
Thomas entered through the opposite door and blocked him.
For one second, the doctor considered attacking the older man.
Then agents forced him to the floor.
Olivia collapsed against Daniel.
Her wound had opened again.
“The doctor only stabilized me enough to move,” she whispered.
Daniel caught her before she fell.
“You could have sent the ledger without coming here.”
“He had the encryption key.”
“You could have told me.”
“I thought you would refuse to help.”
“You were right.”
She gave a weak smile.
“But you came.”
“For the evidence.”
“I know.”
Sirens echoed outside.
Olivia looked at the wedding ring still on her hand.
“When I wake up, I will confess to everything.”
Daniel held pressure against her wound.
“You may spend years in prison.”
“I deserve to.”
The agents carried her toward the waiting ambulance.
This time, Daniel personally checked every member of the medical team.
As the doors closed, Olivia removed her ring.
She placed it in his hand.
“Our marriage began with a lie.”
Daniel looked down at the diamond.
May you like
Olivia’s eyes met his.
“Let the truth end it.”
