Chapter 11 - The Chase to the Bank
Victor shoved through a side door and ran into the chapel courtyard.
Federal agents followed.
He reached a black sedan, jumped inside, and sped away before officers could block the exit.
Detective Mason cursed.
“Track him.”
An agent checked the chapel security footage.
“He took the key from Daniel’s jacket.”
Daniel sat on the front pew while a medic examined him.
Claire knelt beside him.
“That key is fake.”
Daniel nodded weakly.
“But Victor does not know that.”
Mason looked at him.
“Where will he go?”
“The bank where he thinks I stored the original trial reports.”
Claire touched the necklace beneath her dress.
The real brass key rested against her skin.
Daniel had placed a decoy key in his coffin because he needed Victor to reveal which bank and which deposit box he had been searching for.
Margaret stood near the aisle with her hands cuffed.
She looked at Daniel.
“You will destroy the company.”
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“You were willing to sell a dangerous drug to protect the stock price.”
“The company employs thousands of people.”
“So you risked thousands of patients?”
Margaret looked away.
Mason ordered one agent to remain with her.
Then he turned to Daniel.
“We need to reach the bank before Victor realizes the key is false.”
Daniel tried to stand.
His legs buckled.
Claire caught him.
“You are not going anywhere.”
“He knows which box to search for.”
“And you almost died inside that coffin.”
Daniel looked into her eyes.
“I need to finish this.”
Claire wanted to argue.
Instead, she removed the necklace and placed the real key in Mason’s hand.
“The box is under my maiden name.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You moved it?”
“The night you collapsed. I knew they were watching your accounts.”
For the first time since waking, Daniel smiled.
“You saved the evidence.”
“I saved copies. The originals are somewhere even Margaret cannot reach.”
Mason closed his fingers around the key.
“Where?”
Claire looked toward Margaret.
“Not in front of her.”
Margaret’s expression sharpened.
Mason led Claire, Daniel, and Leonard toward an unmarked vehicle.
Behind them, Margaret shouted:
“Victor will never let you reach those files!”
Daniel stopped.
It was not a threat.
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It was a warning.
👉 Margaret knew Victor was heading toward more than a bank box—and Claire realized the original files might already be in danger.
