Chapter 3 - The Offshore Key
I slowly raised my hands in the air and turned my head.
My older sister, Vanessa, was standing behind me with a small silver revolver in her trembling hands.
Her expensive lace wedding dress was torn and covered in mud from the garden.
She commanded Liam to drop his weapon or she would pull the trigger.
Liam slowly placed his pistol on the grass and backed away with his hands raised.
I asked Vanessa why she was protecting the monsters who had stolen from innocent people.
She cried softly and admitted that she had known about the fraud for the past three years.
Vanessa confessed that all of her jewelry, her cars, and her perfect life depended entirely on that stolen money.
She raised the gun higher and told me she was going to hand me over to our father's security team.
I looked deeply into her tear-filled eyes and told her that she was not a murderer.
I reminded her of the time we used to play in this exact garden when we were innocent children.
Vanessa's hand began to shake violently as she struggled with her own twisted conscience.
She finally lowered the gun and collapsed onto the grass in a fit of heavy sobs.
She told us that the only way to expose the corrupt politicians protecting our father was to get the master ledger.
Vanessa revealed that the physical ledger was locked inside a hidden safe in our mother's private study.
Liam quickly picked up his weapon and pulled Vanessa to her feet.
We sneaked back into the massive mansion through a side door while the guards were still searching the grounds.
The house was completely dark and entirely empty as all the staff had fled the chaos.
We quietly made our way up the grand staircase and entered my mother's luxurious office.
Vanessa moved a large oil painting on the wall to reveal a digital keypad.
She typed in a code, and the heavy steel safe hissed open.
I reached inside and grabbed a thick leather journal and a small, black USB drive.
Before I could secure the items in my pocket, the heavy office doors slammed shut behind us.
The electronic locks clicked loudly, trapping us inside the room.
My mother's cold, calm voice suddenly echoed through the intercom system on the desk.
May you like
She welcomed us to her office and informed us that the room was completely airtight.
Thick, white gas began pouring rapidly from the ventilation shafts in the ceiling.
