Chapter 20 - THE NIGHT EVERYTHING BURNED
They left through the back entrance.
Isabelle insisted they take separate cars.
Nobody argued.
The black vehicle remained across the street.
They drove for twenty minutes before Julian checked his mirror.
"Still there?"
Emily looked.
"No."
She exhaled.
"Maybe we lost him."
Julian shook his head.
"I don't think so."
They returned to Paris.
At midnight, Emily woke to the sound of her phone ringing.
Julian was already awake.
He sat beside the window.
"What happened?"
"The foundation."
She grabbed the phone.
"What?"
"Our headquarters are on fire."
Emily's heart stopped.
"Anyone inside?"
"No."
She exhaled.
"Documents?"
"Everything is gone."
Julian stared at the city.
"The original financial servers were there."
Emily understood.
"They destroyed the evidence."
"Yes."
She sat down.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Emily said:
"They made one mistake."
Julian looked at her.
"What?"
"They think the evidence was in one place."
She opened her laptop.
"I copied everything."
Julian stared.
"When?"
"Yesterday."
He smiled.
"You are terrifying."
"I know."
But the smile disappeared quickly.
"Where is the backup?"
Emily looked at him.
"Not with me."
"Where?"
"In Dad's garage."
Julian laughed.
"We flew to France."
"Exactly."
They contacted Robert.
He answered immediately.
"You're awake."
"Yes."
"What's wrong?"
"Everything."
Emily explained.
Robert listened.
Then said:
"Don't worry."
"What?"
"I made copies too."
Julian stared.
"Your father?"
Emily smiled.
"He doesn't trust technology."
Robert's voice came through the speaker.
"I trust paper."
He told them where he had stored the copies.
Not at his house.
Not at the foundation.
Not at a bank.
Inside the old electrical workshop where he had worked before retirement.
Nobody had any reason to look there.
But there was another surprise.
Daniel Mercer had kept copies too.
Between the three families, they possessed enough evidence to rebuild the entire case.
The following morning, Emily and Julian returned to America.
They went directly to Robert's workshop.
The old building smelled of oil and dust.
Robert opened a metal cabinet.
Inside were folders.
"Everything."
Emily stared.
"How did you know?"
Robert shrugged.
"People who lie usually assume everyone else is stupid."
Daniel arrived twenty minutes later.
He carried a small suitcase.
"My wife kept these."
Inside were original medical records.
Photographs.
Letters.
And one audio cassette.
Emily stared.
"What's that?"
Daniel smiled.
"Something Adrian forgot about."
They found an old cassette player.
The tape crackled.
Then voices emerged.
Young voices.
Phipe.
Victor.
Adrian.
The conversation was unmistakable.
They discussed the unsafe equipment.
The payments.
The plan to pressure Robert.
Then Adrian said something that made everyone in the room freeze.
"If Carter refuses, the accident will make him understand."
Robert closed his eyes.
Daniel gripped the table.
Julian whispered:
"That's enough."
Emily shook her head.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
"We don't release this yet."
Julian frowned.
"Why?"
"Because Adrian knows we're coming."
"So?"
"So he'll disappear."
Robert nodded slowly.
"She's right."
Emily looked around the room.
"We need to make him believe he won."
Julian understood.
"We let him think the evidence is gone."
Daniel smiled.
"And then?"
Emily's eyes hardened.
"Then we let him expose himself."
Three days later, a false story appeared online.
A major news outlet reported that the foundation's investigation had collapsed.
The evidence had allegedly been destroyed.
The financial records were gone.
The witnesses had supposedly refused to cooperate.
Adrian believed it.
He made one mistake.
He called Victor.
And Victor, secretly cooperating with the investigators, recorded the entire conversation.
Adrian's voice came through clearly.
"You were supposed to handle Carter years ago."
Victor answered:
"I did."
"You failed."
"They kept digging."
"Then finish it."
A pause.
"How?"
Adrian said:
"Destroy the last copy."
Emily listened to the recording.
She looked at Julian.
"Now we know where he'll go."
Julian nodded.
"The workshop."
They had one chance.
May you like
And this time, they weren't running from the past.
They were waiting for it.
