Chapter 15 - The Vault Under the Chapel
The Duke mausoleum stood on a hill above the river, surrounded by old stone angels and winter grass. The gates had locked automatically, but Mateo forced them open with a tire iron.
“Subtle,” Claire said.
“I am not the subtle one,” Mateo replied.
Roman led them through the chapel. Susan knew where the hidden stairwell was, behind a panel carved with the split crown. The stairs descended into darkness.
Elena stayed outside with her team. The threat against Daniel made a direct raid impossible, but she had positioned agents around the property.
Inside the vault, shelves held boxes of documents, old weapons, and photographs. The air was dry and smelled of stone.
Claire found the ledger in a locked cabinet. The black cover was cracked, but the pages remained intact.
Roman stared at it. “I thought I burned this.”
Susan said, “You burned a decoy.”
He looked at her sharply. “You knew?”
“Mara switched the ledgers before you entered the warehouse.”
“Then why did she leave me believing I had destroyed it?”
“Because she wanted you to think you were free.”
Claire opened the book. The records were worse than she had imagined, but not in the way she expected. Dominic’s crimes were documented beside names of people he had trapped. Some payments were marked with an orange slash: evidence of forced cooperation.
“There are victims here,” Claire said. “Not just criminals.”
Roman looked over the pages. “That is what I tried to protect.”
“And what did you protect instead?”
He did not answer.
A slow clap echoed from the stairwell.
Victor stood above them with a gun pointed toward Susan.
“You always did have a talent for moral speeches,” he said to Claire.
Roman stepped in front of his mother. “Let them go.”
“You are still giving orders.”
“It is a habit I am breaking.”
Victor smiled. “You think surrendering the business makes you noble? You are only abandoning people who depended on you.”
Claire said, “People depended on the money because you kept them trapped.”
Victor glanced at her. “You are the reason he thinks he can be clean.”
“No. I am the reason he has to look at what he did.”
Victor’s expression turned ugly. He reached for Susan.
Claire saw the sprinkler pipe above him and the old emergency valve near the wall. She kicked a loose crate into Victor’s knee. His gun shifted. Roman lunged, but Victor fired into the ceiling.
Dust rained down. Mateo struck the weapon from Victor’s hand while Ellis pulled Susan behind a pillar.
Victor ran deeper into the vault.
Roman pursued him.
Claire grabbed the ledger and followed, but the floor shifted beneath her. A section of stone dropped open, revealing a narrow pit. She caught the edge with both hands.
“Claire!” Roman shouted.
Victor appeared at the far end with the gun. “Throw me the ledger.”
Claire’s arms shook. “Come get it.”
“You are in no position to negotiate.”
“I am a baker. Negotiating under pressure is half my business.”
Roman moved toward Victor. “You will not touch her.”
Victor laughed. “There it is. The throne. The ownership. You cannot help yourself.”
Roman stopped. He lowered his weapon and placed it on the floor.
“I am not going to kill you,” he said. “I am not going to trade Claire’s life for yours. I am not going to be the man you need me to be.”
Victor’s face twisted. “You think that makes you better?”
“No. It makes me responsible for what happens next.”
Victor raised the gun toward Claire.
Susan stepped from behind the pillar and shouted, “Victor, look at me.”
He turned instinctively. Claire used the movement to swing herself onto solid ground. Roman crossed the distance and tackled Victor into the wall. The gun skidded away.
They struggled, but Roman did not strike after Victor was pinned. He held him until Elena’s agents rushed down the stairs.
When Roman stood, his lip was split and his hands were shaking.
Claire reached for him. “Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“A little.”
She touched his face. “May I?”
He nodded.
Her fingers brushed the blood away.
Victor watched from the floor. “He will betray you eventually.”
Claire looked at him. “Maybe. But if he does, it will be his choice, and I will make mine.”
The ledger was delivered to Elena.
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The next morning, Peter Duke turned himself in.
He brought a confession—and claimed Susan had ordered Dominic’s death.
