Chapter 10 - The Aftermath
“Put the gun down, Veronica,” Leonard pleaded, taking a slow step toward his terrified wife.
Veronica shook her head wildly, tears streaming down her pale, panicked face.
“Lawrence said if I don't finish this, he will kill my parents,” Veronica cried in absolute desperation.
Before she could pull the trigger, a massive splash echoed from the storm drain behind them.
Marcus stumbled out of the tunnel, covered in mud and clutching a bleeding shoulder.
He did not hesitate for even a single second.
Marcus swung his shotgun like a baseball bat, striking Veronica hard across the wrist.
The revolver flew out of her hand and splashed harmlessly into the dark, rushing river.
Veronica collapsed into the mud, sobbing uncontrollably as Leonard immediately pinned her to the ground.
Sirens wailed in the distance, but they sounded different than the local police cars.
Heavy black tactical vans with FBI logos across the side roared down the riverbank, surrounding them completely.
Marcus had sent the evidence of Lawrence's corruption to a federal field office before the funeral even began.
Federal agents swarmed the area, arresting a furious, soot-covered Lawrence as he crawled out of the tunnel.
The corrupt local police officers were stripped of their badges and thrown into the back of armored vans.
Leonard pulled his mother into a tight, desperate hug as paramedics rushed over to check their injuries.
The nightmare was finally over, and Lawrence’s evil empire had completely crumbled.
Six months later, Clara stood in the kitchen of Leonard’s new, secure house in the quiet suburbs.
Leonard was safe, the bridge project was corrected, and Veronica was serving a long sentence in federal prison.
Clara hummed a happy tune as she sorted through a basket of Leonard’s freshly washed laundry.
She picked up his favorite blue suit jacket to hang it in the closet.
As she smoothed the fabric, her fingers brushed against something hard sewn deep inside the hidden chest lining.
She carefully cut the fabric open with a pair of scissors and pulled out a small, encrypted USB drive.
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A small piece of paper was wrapped tightly around the drive, bearing Leonard’s exact handwriting.
The note simply read: “Mom, if you are reading this, Lawrence wasn’t the one who actually ordered the hit.”
