The room was silent after the recording ended.
Victoria looked at Sarah. Sarah's face was pale, but her eyes were dry. She'd cried for her brother three years ago. Now she was ready for justice.
"We need to make copies," Olivia said. "Multiple copies. Different locations. If one is destroyed, we have backups."
"I'll handle it," Catherine said. "I have a safe deposit box. A lawyer. A journalist."
"The journalist," Nathaniel said. "Can we trust them?"
"We can trust them to want the story. That's enough."
Franklin Cross arrived an hour later.
The nurse helped him through the door. He was weaker than yesterday, his face gray, his breathing labored. But his eyes were still sharp.
"Play it for me," he said.
Victoria played the recording.
Franklin listened without moving. When it ended, he closed his eyes.
"Marcus Webb," he said. "I've waited twenty years to hear that voice admit to something."
"Can we use it?" Nathaniel asked.
"We can use it. But we need more than a recording. We need a witness. Someone who can testify that the voice is Webb's."
"Vinson," Victoria said.
"Vinson is the key. He's on the recording. He's the one who injected Richard. He can put Webb at the scene."
"But Vinson is working for Webb."
"Vinson is working for himself. He always has been." Franklin opened his eyes. "We need to turn him. Make him understand that Webb will kill him the moment he's no longer useful."
"How do we do that?"
"We give him something Webb can't offer. Immunity. Protection. A future."
"You want us to negotiate with a murderer?"
"I want you to use him. There's a difference."
---
Nathaniel made the call.
Vinson answered on the second ring.
"Nathaniel. I thought you'd be dead by now."
"Not yet."
"Then you're luckier than most. What do you want?"
"To talk. Face to face. Somewhere neutral."
Vinson laughed. It was a cold, humorless sound.
"You want to trap me."
"I want to offer you a way out."
A pause. "Where?"
"The Lincoln Memorial. One hour. Come alone."
"I'll come. But if you try anything—"
"You'll kill me. I know."
The line went dead.
---
They planned it carefully.
Franklin would stay at Catherine's townhouse with Olivia and Sarah. Catherine would coordinate with her journalist contacts. Nathaniel and Victoria would go to the Lincoln Memorial.
"You're walking into a trap," Catherine said.
"We're walking into a conversation. What happens after that is up to Vinson."
Nathaniel and Victoria drove to the National Mall.
The Lincoln Memorial was crowded with tourists. Families taking photos. Children running up the steps. A man playing a guitar near the reflecting pool.
Vinson was sitting on the steps, halfway up, his back to the statue. He wore a dark jacket and jeans, the same uniform as always.
Nathaniel sat beside him. Victoria stood a few feet away, watching the crowd.
"You came," Vinson said.
"I came."
"Does she have the recorder?"
"She has it."
Vinson nodded slowly. "Then you have everything you need to destroy Webb."
"Not everything. We need you."
Vinson turned to look at him. His cold eyes were unreadable.
"You want me to testify."
"I want you to tell the truth. About Richard. About Nora. About everything Webb made you do."
"And in return?"
"Immunity. Protection. A chance to start over."
Vinson laughed again, but this time there was no humor in it.
"You think I deserve a chance to start over?"
"I think you're the only person who can put Webb in prison. That's not about deserving. It's about necessity."
Vinson was quiet for a long moment. The tourists milled around them, oblivious.
"Nora was the only good thing in my life," Vinson said finally. "She was kind. She was honest. She believed people could change."
"She was your niece."
"She was my daughter, in every way that mattered." Vinson looked down at his hands. "I watched Webb destroy her. I watched him smile at her funeral. And I did nothing."
"Until now."
"Until now." Vinson stood up. "I'll testify. On one condition."
"What?"
"I want to be the one who arrests him."
Nathaniel looked at Victoria. She nodded.
"Done," Nathaniel said.
---
They drove back to Catherine's townhouse.
Vinson followed in his own car. Nathaniel watched the rearview mirror the whole way.
"You trust him?" Victoria asked.
"I trust him to hate Webb more than he loves himself."
"That's not the same thing."
"It's enough."
They parked in the alley behind the townhouse. Vinson parked beside them.
Catherine opened the door.
"You brought him here?" she said.
"He's going to testify."
"Or he's going to kill us all."
Vinson stepped out of his car. He looked at Catherine, then at Nathaniel.
"I'm not here to kill anyone," he said. "I'm here to end this."
Catherine stepped aside. Vinson walked in.
The living room was crowded. Franklin in his armchair. Olivia at her laptop. Sarah on the couch, her arms crossed.
Vinson stopped when he saw Sarah.
"You're Richard's sister," he said.
"Yes."
"I'm sorry."
"You killed him."
"I followed orders. That's not an excuse. It's just the truth."
Sarah stared at him for a long moment. Then she nodded.
"Sit down," she said. "We have a lot to discuss."
---
They talked for three hours.
Vinson told them everything. The names. The dates. The transactions. The murders.
He told them about the drug, about the night Richard died, about the way Webb had smiled when Vinson reported that it was done.
He told them about Nora, about the affair, about the way Webb had ordered her death because she'd become a liability.
He told them about the files, about the second list, about the shell company he'd set up to frame Nathaniel.
"I needed leverage," Vinson said. "If Webb ever turned on me, I wanted to have something to negotiate with."
"So you framed Nathaniel," Victoria said.
"I made it look like Nathaniel was on the take. If Webb found out, he would have killed Nathaniel. That would have given me a reason to turn on Webb."
"That's twisted."
"That's survival."
Franklin leaned forward. "You'll testify to all of this in court?"
"Yes."
"Under oath?"
"Yes."
"Then we have a deal."
---
That night, Victoria stood on the back porch, looking at the stars.
Nathaniel came out and stood beside her.
"It's almost over," he said.
"It's not over until Webb is in handcuffs."
"That could happen tomorrow. Franklin is filing a motion with the court. Catherine is going public with the recording. Vinson is ready to testify."
"And if Webb runs?"
"He won't. He's too arrogant."
Victoria turned to look at him. His face was tired, but his eyes were
clear.
"Nathaniel," she said.
"Yes?"
"When this is over, I want to know who you really are. Not the CEO. Not the man who signed the report. You."
He reached out and took her hand.
"I've been waiting ten years to show you," he said.