Chapter 10 - THEY TOOK THE WRONG MOTHER
My mother was not murdered.
That was almost a disappointment.
Not because I wanted another crime.
Because by then I no longer trusted ordinary death.
Medical records confirmed the stroke.
No suspicious medication.
No missing records.
Victor’s message was manipulation.
But while we chased it, he acted.
He took Ruth Kaplan.
Not me.
Not Lucy.
Ruth.
She was leaving the pharmacy near my old apartment.
A van stopped.
Two men forced her inside.
Security footage captured everything.
I nearly collapsed.
“She’s seventy-two.”
Roman’s people moved immediately.
Police too.
Victor called within an hour.
“Grace.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead I said:
“What do you want?”
“The blood sample.”
“You know we tested it.”
“The original.”
“Why?”
“Because possession matters.”
“No.”
Roman mouthed:
Keep him talking.
Victor continued.
“And the letters Elaine Mercer kept.”
“You’re bargaining for paper?”
“I’m bargaining for history.”
That sentence told me everything.
He was losing.
Not money.
Narrative.
The story he had controlled.
He needed original records destroyed.
“Let Ruth go.”
“Bring everything.”
“Alive?”
A pause.
“She’s irritating.”
I almost laughed because that sounded exactly like Ruth.
“Put her on.”
Movement.
Then Ruth:
“Grace?”
“I’m here.”
“Do not give these idiots anything.”
I closed my eyes.
“Ruth.”
“One of them calls his mother three times a day.”
A man shouted in background.
Roman almost smiled.
Victor took the phone.
“Midnight.”
Location.
Abandoned marina.
Roman said we would not go alone.
I said I was going.
He stopped arguing sooner than expected.
“Fine.”
“What?”
“I learned.”
That scared me more.
The marina operation involved federal agents, local tactical police, and Roman’s men outside the official perimeter.
I carried a case.
Inside:
Copies.
Not originals.
Victor arrived with Ruth.
He looked disappointingly ordinary.
Sixty.
Gray hair.
Beautiful coat.
The kind of man who could sit on a museum board.
“Grace.”
“Ruth first.”
“Case first.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“You negotiate like Elaine.”
“You killed my father.”
His smile vanished.
“So Vincent says.”
“You deny it?”
“I regret it.”
Not denial.
Rage moved through me.
“Why?”
“He knew too much.”
“That’s not a reason.”
“It was then.”
Some people cannot recognize humanity after they convert it into inconvenience.
Victor looked at Roman.
“You let this woman speak to me like that?”
Roman’s voice was quiet.
“She speaks for herself.”
The power shift was almost invisible.
Victor hated it.
He pushed Ruth forward.
I gave him the case.
For one second, everything worked.
Then he opened it.
Copies.
His face changed.
“You stupid—”
Ruth drove her elbow into his stomach.
Chaos.
Gunfire.
I dropped.
Roman pulled me behind a boat hull.
Agents moved.
Victor ran.
Ruth crawled toward us.
A bullet struck Roman’s shoulder.
He barely reacted.
“Roman!”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“Later.”
Victor reached the dock.
No escape.
Water behind him.
Agents ahead.
He raised his weapon.
For one terrible second, Roman had a clean shot.
He lifted his gun.
Victor smiled.
He expected Roman to kill him.
Maybe wanted it.
Dead men avoid trials.
Roman lowered the weapon.
Victor’s smile disappeared.
Police tackled him.
Alive.
Roman looked at me.
“You said truth needs him breathing.”
Then he fainted.
Not dramatically.
He simply folded.
I caught his head before it hit the dock.
At the hospital, doctors removed the bullet.
No major vessels damaged.
He woke six hours later.
I was beside him.
His first words:
“Ruth?”
“Complaining.”
“Good.”
“Lucy?”
“Safe.”
“Iris?”
“Safe.”
He closed his eyes.
“Grace?”
“I’m here.”
He opened them again.
“That wasn’t the question.”
I understood.
Was I safe?
“Yes.”
Only then did he breathe.
I looked at this impossible man.
Crime boss.
Brother.
Protector.
Sinner.
Something else beginning.
“You got shot.”
“I noticed.”
“You lowered your gun.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were watching.”
I frowned.
“That’s a terrible reason.”
“No.”
His voice weakened.
“It was the first time I cared what I became after pulling the trigger.”
May you like
I had no answer.
So I held his hand.
