Chapter 10 - THE LIBRARY ATTACK
Detective Collins pushed us behind a concrete service desk.
The first bullet shattered the front window.
Library patrons screamed and dropped to the floor.
Sloan fired twice more, aiming toward Helen’s evidence box.
He did not care who stood between him and the documents.
An off-duty officer returned fire from the entrance.
Sloan retreated behind the vehicle.
A second man emerged from the driver’s seat and threw a burning bottle through the broken window.
Flames spread across the carpet.
Smoke filled the library.
I grabbed the evidence box.
Collins guided Helen toward a rear stairwell.
Sloan entered through the smoke.
His tailored suit was covered by a dark coat.
He looked nothing like the polished lawyer who attended charity dinners beside Evelyn.
His eyes were cold and focused.
“Leave the box,” he called.
“You cannot prosecute what no longer exists.”
Collins fired toward the wall beside him.
He ducked behind a bookshelf.
We reached the stairwell.
Helen stumbled.
I helped her down the steps while Collins covered us.
At the basement exit, the second gunman waited.
Michael appeared from the hallway before the man could raise his weapon.
He struck him with a metal fire extinguisher.
Michael had been transported to the courthouse for a protected interview.
He learned about our meeting through an officer and followed against instructions.
“You should be in custody,” Collins told him.
“I am trying to make sure my brother survives.”
Michael picked up the gunman’s weapon and handed it to her.
Sloan reached the basement.
He saw Michael.
“You ungrateful little coward.”
Michael stepped between Sloan and me.
“You told me Lily would never be in danger.”
“You were useful because you believed whatever made you feel innocent.”
Sloan raised his weapon.
Collins fired.
The bullet struck Sloan’s shoulder.
He escaped through a maintenance door before officers surrounded the alley.
His blood trail ended near the river.
The getaway vehicle was found abandoned.
Police arrested the second gunman.
He was a former deputy who had worked beneath Thomas Hart.
The evidence box survived the fire.
Helen’s documents proved Sloan bribed Judge Keene and stole from at least nine trusts.
The recordings also revealed that Thomas Hart helped begin the scheme.
Evelyn’s late husband had taught Sloan how guardianship cases could be manipulated.
After Thomas died, Evelyn continued the operation.
Anna discovered her parents had built their wealth partly by exploiting vulnerable families.
She decided Lily would never inherit money stolen from them.
A draft amendment on the flash drive ordered the trust dissolved.
The money would be returned to the victims.
Evelyn could not allow that.
Neither could Sloan.
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The three million dollars had never been only an inheritance.
It was the final evidence of a criminal system.
