Chapter 10 - THE CAPTAIN WITH THE STOLEN RING
Captain Brand aimed his weapon at Adrian.
Daniel’s team had not yet entered the house.
Their radio signals had been jammed.
Nora stood beside the wounded Celeste.
The officers spread through the pool room.
Brand extended his hand.
“The memory card.”
Adrian held the waterproof case against his chest.
“You removed the evidence from Isabelle’s vehicle.”
Brand smiled.
“I removed what Victor ordered me to remove.”
“Did you force her car off the road?”
“I only changed the report.”
“The road did the rest.”
Celeste groaned.
Brand looked at her without sympathy.
“You should have left the country.”
“She has lost too much blood,” Nora said.
“That is no longer my concern.”
Nora pressed a towel against Celeste’s wound.
Celeste whispered something into her ear.
Nora’s eyes moved toward the pool control panel.
Adrian noticed.
He continued speaking to distract Brand.
“Where is Lily?”
“Victor has her.”
“Alive?”
“For now.”
Brand stepped closer.
“Give me the card.”
Nora reached behind her and pressed the emergency pool switch.
Steel shutters slammed down over the windows.
The room plunged into darkness.
Adrian dropped into the empty pool.
Gunfire struck the tiles above him.
Nora pulled Celeste behind a stone column.
Daniel’s team breached the eastern door.
The gunfight lasted less than a minute.
Three corrupt officers surrendered.
Two were wounded.
Brand escaped through a maintenance tunnel.
Daniel found Adrian inside the pool.
The waterproof case was still in his hands.
They inserted the memory card into a secure laptop.
The footage showed Isabelle driving through heavy rain.
A black sport utility vehicle followed her.
Victor sat in the passenger seat.
Brand was driving.
The vehicle struck Isabelle’s car twice.
The final impact forced her through the barrier.
Before the footage ended, Isabelle turned toward her own camera.
She held up a handwritten note.
“Lily knows the last name.”
The image froze.
Adrian stared at the words.
Lily knew the identity of the person Victor believed was dead.
Celeste regained consciousness while the ambulance crew treated her.
“The woman is named Rose.”
“Rose who?”
Celeste looked toward the lake.
May you like
“Rose Vale.”
Adrian’s mother had been declared dead twenty-four years earlier.
