CHAPTER 20 The Price of the Truth
CHAPTER 20
The Price of the Truth
The underground chamber fell silent.
Victor Ashcombe stared at the photograph in Daniel Cole's trembling hands.
Five people stood together in front of a government building.
Four were among the most powerful figures in the country.
The fifth...
...was Victor.
Richard instinctively raised his pistol.
"Tell me this is fake."
Victor didn't move.
"I wish I could."
Naomi's voice was cold.
"Were you part of the Phoenix Council?"
Victor slowly nodded.
"I was."
A wave of disbelief swept through the room.
Khloe felt her stomach tighten.
"You betrayed my father?"
Victor looked directly into her eyes.
"No."
"I betrayed the Council."
Daniel stepped between Victor and the others.
"Lower your weapons."
No one moved.
Daniel continued.
"Jonathan recruited Victor from inside the Phoenix Council."
"He was our only source."
Edward frowned.
"A double agent?"
Daniel nodded.
"For twenty-six years."
Victor gave a weary smile.
"I never expected to survive this long."
Naomi opened the intelligence files.
Every page contained coded transactions, secret meetings, and lists of public officials on the Council's payroll.
One document caught her attention.
She froze.
"The chairman..."
Daniel finished her sentence.
"...has never been identified."
Victor closed his eyes.
"Because no one has ever seen the chairman's face."
Grace looked around the chamber.
"If the Council is still operating..."
"...they already know we're here."
Before anyone could answer, the emergency alarms screamed.
SECURITY BREACH.
MULTIPLE HOSTILE CONTACTS.
Daniel's tactical commander rushed in.
"They've surrounded the estate."
"More than eighty armed personnel."
Edward walked to the security monitor.
Black armored vehicles poured through the front gates of Harrington Manor.
Professional.
Disciplined.
Nothing like Black Raven.
Each vehicle displayed the same emblem.
A silver phoenix.
"So," Edward muttered.
"They finally came themselves."
Daniel immediately took command.
"Harrison, secure the east tunnel."
"Richard, take the upper exit."
"Gabriel, protect Grace."
He turned toward Khloe.
"You stay with Hope."
Khloe shook her head.
"No."
"They've been hunting my family for decades."
"I'm done hiding."
Daniel looked at her for a long moment.
Then nodded.
"Just like your father."
Victor quietly removed a worn leather wallet from his pocket.
Inside was an old photograph.
Jonathan.
Daniel.
Victor.
All smiling beside a lake more than twenty-five years earlier.
He handed it to Khloe.
"Your father made me promise something."
"What promise?"
"If the truth ever came out..."
"...I was to protect his daughters, even if they hated me for what I'd done."
Khloe looked at the photograph.
Then back at Victor.
For the first time...
She believed him.
A tremendous explosion shook the entire underground complex.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
The main entrance collapsed.
Daniel's radio crackled.
"They're inside!"
Gunfire erupted through the tunnels.
The battle had begun.
Suddenly, every light in the chamber switched off.
A calm female voice echoed through hidden speakers.
"Good evening."
"I've waited a very long time for this reunion."
No one recognized the voice.
Daniel did.
His face lost all color.
"No..."
"It can't be."
The woman continued.
"Jonathan thought destroying the Phoenix Council would save his family."
"He was wrong."
"He only delayed the inevitable."
A large monitor flickered to life.
A woman in an elegant white suit appeared on the screen.
Her face was partially hidden in shadow.
Only her eyes were visible.
Cold.
Calculating.
She smiled.
"Welcome back, Daniel."
Then she turned her gaze toward Khloe.
"And welcome, Miss Cole."
"I've been waiting twenty-three years to meet Jonathan's eldest daughter."
Khloe's heartbeat thundered in her ears.
Daniel whispered a name so quietly that only Victor heard it.
"The Chairwoman..."
The woman smiled as if she had heard him.
"Yes."
May you like
"And now..."
"...our final chapter begins."
