Chapter 10 - THE GHOST IN THE SHADOWS
The heavy SUV screeched to a halt, its tires smoking against the wet pavement.
The driver's side door flew open, and Nathan stumbled out into the fog. He was disheveled, his shirt unbuttoned at the collar, his eyes wide and frantic as he stared over the shattered railing into the dark river.
"Celeste!" Nathan screamed, his voice filled with hysterical panic. "Celeste! Where are the keys? Where are the offshore codes?"
He wasn't trying to save her. He was looking for the briefcase.
Julian stepped out from behind the concrete pillar, his expression dark as stone. He grabbed Nathan by the lapels of his jacket, slamming his brother hard against the side of the idling SUV.
"You idiot!" Julian growled, his voice vibrating with rage. "You just committed murder in front of three witnesses!"
"She was going to sell me out!" Nathan shrieked, struggling against Julian's grip. "She had the private keys to the Cayman accounts! If I don't get those codes, the creditors are going to kill me tomorrow!"
I walked out from behind the pillar, my heart hammering against my ribs as I looked down at the dark, swirling water below the pier. The metal briefcase Celeste had been holding was gone, swallowed by the river along with her secrets.
In the distance, the wail of police sirens began to echo through the city streets, growing closer by the second.
Nathan looked at me, his face pale, tears of terror mixing with the cold fog on his cheeks. "Emma... please... you have to help me... tell them it was an accident..."
I looked at my husband—the man who had struck me, forged my name, and systematically tried to steal my life’s work.
"No, Nathan," I said, my voice completely cold and devoid of pity. "You built this empire of glass. Now you get to watch it shatter."
Julian released his grip, letting Nathan collapse onto the wet asphalt as the flashing red and blue lights of the arriving police cruisers illuminated the pier.
As the officers poured out of their cars with weapons drawn, I turned toward the river one last time.
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The Zurich documents were gone, Celeste was in the water, and Nathan was in handcuffs. But as I looked at the dark skyline of Manhattan, I realized the most terrifying truth of all:
Friday was less than thirty-six hours away. And the offshore creditors who held forty million dollars of Vance & Co. debt hadn't even made their first move yet.
