Chapter 14 - THE LAST DINNEREleanor escaped with the help of a corrupt corrections officer.
That night, she called me.
Maya was tied to a chair.
“Come to the vineyard.”
I knew it was a trap.
But I also knew Eleanor wouldn't stop.
The federal team created a covert plan.
I entered the vineyard through the same doors I had walked through on the night Adrian struck me.
The dining room looked exactly the same.
The chandelier.
The long table.
The wine.
And one porcelain plate.
Eleanor sat at the head of the table.
“Sit.”
I did.
She wanted a confession from me.
She wanted me to say the evidence was fake.
She wanted me to record my own suicide.
Instead, I asked questions.
“Did you order my father's death?”
“Yes.”
“Did you imprison Lydia?”
“Yes.”
“Did you order Adrian to marry me?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know he might hurt me?”
“I expected him to.”
“Why?”
She looked almost amused.
“Women need to learn what happens when they become ungrateful.”
I kept talking.
The transmitter beneath my jacket captured every word.
“Families are not held together by love,” Eleanor said.
“They are held together by fear.”
“No.”
I looked at Maya.
“They're held together by choices.”
Outside, federal vehicles surrounded the estate.
Eleanor reached for the gun.
I overturned the table.
The plate shattered.
Maya threw herself sideways.
The chandelier crashed down.
Agents stormed the room.
Eleanor crawled toward the gun.
Maya kicked it away.
For the first time, Eleanor looked around and saw no one willing to protect her.
Charles had betrayed her.
Adrian was imprisoned.
Julian had confessed.
Thomas Vale had testified.
Monica Shaw was in custody.
Her empire was gone.
She slowly raised her hands.
As agents cuffed her, she looked at the broken plate.
“Such a waste.”
I looked at the shattered porcelain.
“No.”
I took a breath.
“It finally served a purpose.”
Eleanor was arrested.
The confession was recorded.
The evidence was overwhelming.
The Caldwell empire was finished.
Or so I thought.
Because the phone Eleanor had used to arrange her escape contained one final name.
Detective Nora Reyes.
For nine terrible minutes, we believed she had betrayed us.
She hadn't.
The account had been cloned.
The real traitor was Deputy Commissioner Alan Price.
He had been selling protected witness locations to Eleanor.
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He was arrested at San Francisco International Airport with false identification and a one-way ticket to Switzerland.
After that, there was nowhere left for the Caldwell network to hide.
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