Chapter 14 - THE MAN BEHIND THE BADGE
Julian confronted Reed at the hospital.
“You shot Ethan.”
Reed stared at him.
“No.”
“You were at the warehouse.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about my father.”
“Yes.”
“You altered the investigation.”
“No.”
Julian slammed the photograph onto the table.
“Then explain this.”
Reed looked at it.
His face changed.
“That photograph was taken before I became a detective.”
Julian froze.
“What?”
Reed sat down.
“My father worked for Arthur.”
Julian stared.
“And you?”
“I spent twenty years trying to bring him down.”
“Then why did you hide the truth?”
“Because nobody would believe me.”
Reed pulled out a file.
Inside were years of evidence.
“The night your father died, I was there.”
“Why?”
“To warn him.”
“What happened?”
“Your father already knew the killer.”
Julian leaned closer.
“Who?”
Reed looked at him.
“Your father said one name.”
“Who?”
Reed whispered:
“Your mother.”
Julian's heart stopped.
“No.”
“She wasn't the killer. She gave them the location. But the person who ordered the hit was someone else.”
“Who?”
Reed handed him another photograph.
Arthur.
Victor.
Evelyn.
And a fourth person.
A young man.
Julian recognized him.
His own uncle.
“Uncle Robert?”
Reed nodded.
“Robert controlled the money.”
Julian felt sick.
His family had been poisoned from the inside for decades.
Robert had used Arthur, Evelyn, and Victor to steal the company.
He had arranged the murder.
And now he wanted Julian dead.
Julian returned to the hospital.
Ethan was awake.
He looked at Julian.
“Did you find him?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Robert.”
Ethan smiled weakly.
“Then finish it.”
But Robert was already moving.
He took Martha from the hospital.
Julian received a video.
Martha was tied to a chair.
Robert stood behind her.
“You've been chasing ghosts, Julian.”
“Let her go.”
“Come to the Hale estate.”
“I'm bringing the police.”
“Then she dies.”
Julian looked at Reed.
Reed nodded.
“We go together.”
They returned to the mansion.
Robert waited in the study.
He looked older than Julian remembered.
“You have your father's stubbornness.”
“And you have his blood on your hands.”
Robert smiled.
“You think I wanted him dead?”
“You ordered it.”
“I wanted the company.”
“You destroyed our family.”
Robert laughed.
“Your family destroyed itself.”
Martha shouted, “Robert, stop!”
He raised his gun.
Julian stepped forward.
“Shoot me.”
Robert smiled.
“I might.”
Then the door behind him opened.
Bianca walked in.
She held a recording device.
“I think you should hear this first.”
Robert turned.
“What is that?”
“Your confession.”
His face changed.
Bianca pressed play.
Robert's own voice filled the room.
Every crime.
Every payment.
Every order.
Robert stared at her.
“How?”
Bianca smiled.
“Because I finally chose the right side.”
Sirens screamed outside.
Robert raised his gun.
Julian lunged.
A shot exploded.
Martha screamed.
When the smoke cleared, Robert was on the floor.
Julian looked at Bianca.
She was bleeding.
She had taken the bullet meant for him.
He caught her.
“Bianca!”
She whispered:
May you like
“I told you I loved you.”
Then she closed her eyes.
