CHAPTER 7 — THE FOURTH PARTNER
CHAPTER 7 — THE FOURTH PARTNER
For one endless second, nobody moved.
Bee stared at Arthur Bennett.
The gentle attorney.
The man who had offered her tea.
The man who had spoken about conscience.
The man who had shaken her hand.
He was smiling.
Not warmly.
Relieved.
"As I was saying," Arthur said calmly, "Patrick Callahan always had one fatal flaw."
He looked at Bee.
"He believed decent people deserved the truth."
Maxim slowly stepped in front of her.
"You betrayed my father."
Arthur sighed.
"I saved myself."
"You murdered Patrick."
"I gave him a choice."
Bee's voice shook.
"What choice?"
Arthur's smile disappeared.
"Forget what he found... or leave this world."
"He refused."
Silence.
"So I buried him."
Bee felt her stomach twist.
"You've lived beside my family for twenty years."
"I monitored your family," Arthur corrected.
"You were never supposed to matter."
He glanced toward Maxim.
"But then you became important to him."
Maxim tightened his grip on the pistol.
"What was Patrick protecting?"
Arthur laughed softly.
"You still don't understand."
He took one slow step into the vault.
"It wasn't money."
"It wasn't drugs."
"It wasn't territory."
"It was information."
He tapped his temple.
"Information powerful enough to destroy governments... banks... criminal empires... all at once."
Bee frowned.
"My father was an accountant."
"Exactly."
Arthur spread his hands.
"He discovered where everyone's hidden fortunes were buried."
"The politicians."
"The judges."
"The crime families."
"The corporations laundering billions through shell companies."
"He created one master ledger."
Maxim's eyes narrowed.
"The Ledger."
Arthur smiled.
"So you finally know its name."
Bee whispered,
"Where is it?"
Arthur looked at her almost fondly.
"If I knew..."
"...none of this would've been necessary."
He pointed toward the photograph.
"Patrick never trusted anyone."
"He split the truth."
"He hid every clue."
"And before I could force him to reveal the rest..."
"...he died."
"You killed him."
"Yes."
Arthur didn't even deny it.
"And for twenty years..."
"...I've searched for what he left behind."
Gunfire echoed somewhere above them.
The mansion was still under attack.
Arthur never looked away.
"My men have almost reached this room."
Bee blinked.
"Your men?"
"The assault was merely... persuasive."
"You hired an army?"
"I financed one."
He smiled again.
"Very expensive."
Maxim spoke quietly.
"You'll never leave here alive."
Arthur chuckled.
"My dear boy..."
"I already won."
He raised the silenced pistol.
Then—
Bang.
Not Arthur's gun.
Bee had moved first.
She grabbed a heavy brass lamp from a nearby table and swung it with every ounce of strength she possessed.
The lamp smashed into Arthur's wrist.
His pistol flew across the floor.
Maxim fired once.
The bullet struck Arthur in the thigh.
The older man collapsed with a cry of pain.
Bee kicked the pistol away.
Arthur stared at her in disbelief.
"The waitress..."
Bee stood over him, breathing hard.
"No."
She wiped tears from her face.
"My name..."
"...is Adelaide Callahan."
Minutes later, Rosetti security forces stormed the vault.
The attackers surrendered one after another.
Without Arthur directing them, the assault collapsed.
The estate survived.
Barely.
Forty-three guards were injured.
Nine never went home.
Arthur Bennett was taken away in handcuffs.
As officers escorted him through the destroyed mansion, he stopped beside Bee.
"You think this is over?"
She didn't answer.
He smiled.
May you like
"The Ledger still exists."
Then he was gone.
