Chapter 6 - NO MORE BOWING

Mason wanted to make the trade.
Dorcas refused to let him do it alone.
Federal agents told them not to go at all.
Victor had chosen an abandoned Meridian warehouse near Bridgeport.
Midnight.
Mason arrived carrying copies of the tapes.
Dorcas was supposed to remain with the agents.
She did not.
“You are impossible,” Mason whispered when she appeared beside him.
“You noticed.”
Inside the warehouse, Henry sat tied to a chair.
Victor Hale stood beside him.
Dr. Fallon stood twenty feet away.
For the first time, neither man pretended.
Victor looked tired.
“Arthur was stubborn too.”
Mason's hands curled.
“You murdered him.”
“I protected a company.”
“You stole from it.”
“I built half of it.”
“My father trusted you.”
“Your father became sentimental.”
Victor looked at Dorcas.
“And then you became sentimental.”
Dorcas smiled.
“That's the nicest thing anyone has accused him of.”
Victor did not smile.
Fallon stepped forward.
“Give us the tapes.”
Mason held up the case.
“Release Henry.”
Victor laughed.
“You still think this is a negotiation.”
“No.”
Mason dropped the case.
Victor stared.
“I think it's a confession.”
Red and blue lights exploded outside.
Victor spun.
Fallon ran.
Henry kicked sideways, knocking Victor off balance.
Chaos erupted.
Agents entered.
Victor pulled a gun.
Mason moved toward Dorcas.
A shot cracked.
Henry screamed.
Victor fell.
An agent had fired.
Fallon was captured near the loading dock.
Henry had been grazed in the shoulder.
Everyone lived.
For the first time in twenty years, Victor Hale was not in control.
But the story wasn't over.
Because Fallon offered prosecutors a deal.
And his testimony revealed the final secret.
Victor had not restarted the drugging campaign.
Someone else had.
A person who knew the old methods.
A person still inside Blackwell Meridian.
Fallon gave them a name.
Claire Blackwell.
May you like
Mason's younger sister.
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