Chapter 7 - THE INHERITANCE OF BLOODViktor had never known his mother left him anything.
After Elena Sokolov died, there had been no family fortune.
No property.
No bank accounts worth fighting over.
Only a small apartment, unpaid bills, and a box of photographs Viktor couldn't bring himself to open.
Now Gabriel claimed that her will contained something powerful enough to make dangerous men frame her son for murder.
Viktor stared at the detective.
“What inheritance?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“I don't know exactly what it contains.”
“Then how do you know it exists?”
“Because I found a sealed reference to it in the evidence your mother collected.”
Viktor clenched his jaw.
“Where is it?”
“That's what Hargrove has been trying to discover.”
Viktor looked toward the farmhouse.
The workshop stood behind the garage.
Somewhere inside was the metal box.
Perhaps the only thing that could explain why his family had been destroyed.
He turned back.
“I'm going.”
Gabriel nodded reluctantly.
“Be careful.”
Viktor stepped into the rain.
The forest provided cover as he moved toward the farmhouse.
He stayed low behind fallen branches and overgrown bushes.
Twice, he heard men speaking near the driveway.
One complained about the weather.
Another said Bennett had ordered them to search every building.
Viktor waited until their voices faded.
Then he crossed the yard.
The workshop door was unlocked.
Inside, the air smelled of old wood and machine oil.
Tools hung neatly along the walls.
A workbench stood beneath a dusty window.
Viktor knelt.
He found the loose floorboard almost immediately.
Beneath it sat a small metal box.
His heart pounded.
He lifted it carefully.
The lid opened with a faint metallic click.
Inside were three items.
A notebook.
A sealed envelope.
And a photograph.
Viktor picked up the photograph first.
It showed his mother standing beside Gabriel Morel.
Seven years earlier.
Both were smiling.
Viktor stared.
Gabriel had known his mother personally.
Not merely as an investigator.
As someone she trusted.
He turned the photograph over.
A message was written on the back.
If anything happens to me, trust Gabriel. He knows what matters.
Viktor felt something tighten in his chest.
For three years, he had hated the very man his mother had trusted.
He opened the notebook.
The first pages contained dates, patient identification numbers, and references to medical shipments.
Then he found a handwritten entry.
June 14. Richard Vale knows about the deaths. Hargrove is protecting him. Bennett is moving the records. If they discover the second archive, they will destroy everyone connected to it.
Viktor turned the page.
Another entry.
The second archive is not digital. They cannot hack what they cannot find.
He continued reading.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts of money.
Descriptions of patients who had died after receiving unauthorized treatments.
The notebook was more than evidence.
It was a record of lives stolen by greed.
Viktor felt sick.
His mother had been trying to protect strangers.
People she barely knew.
And she had paid for it with her life.
He reached for the sealed envelope.
His name was written across the front.
To Viktor, when the truth becomes unavoidable.
His hands trembled.
He opened it.
Inside was a letter.
My dearest Viktor,
If you're reading this, then I wasn't able to finish what I started.
I know you've spent your life protecting Milan. I know you've made sacrifices I never asked you to make.
But please remember something.
Love does not require you to destroy yourself.
Viktor closed his eyes.
Tears burned behind them.
He continued.
There are things I cannot tell you yet. Not because I don't trust you, but because the people watching us are dangerous.
I have placed the most important evidence somewhere they will never think to look.
You already know the place.
It's where I taught you that even broken things deserve a second chance.
Viktor stopped reading.
A memory surfaced.
His mother kneeling beside him in a small community garden.
He had been twelve.
A bird with a broken wing lay beneath a tree.
Viktor wanted to leave it.
His mother insisted they help.
They carried it to a wildlife rehabilitation center.
Weeks later, they watched it fly away.
The garden.
The old community garden near their childhood apartment.
That had to be the place.
Suddenly, the workshop door creaked.
Viktor froze.
A man stood in the doorway.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Wearing a dark raincoat.
Captain Daniel Hargrove.
He smiled.
“Hello, Viktor.”
Viktor slowly stood.
Hargrove glanced at the open box.
“Well,” he said softly. “Looks like you found what I've been searching for.”
Viktor tightened his grip on the notebook.
Hargrove stepped inside.
“Put it down.”
Viktor didn't move.
The captain sighed.
“You know, your mother was a remarkable woman.”
Viktor felt rage rising.
“Don't talk about her.”
“She was brave. Intelligent. Unfortunately, she didn't understand when to stop.”
Viktor stepped backward.
Hargrove reached inside his coat.
A pistol appeared.
“Give me the notebook.”
Viktor looked toward the window.
Too far.
The door was blocked.
Hargrove smiled.
“There's no need for anyone else to die.”
Viktor stared at him.
“Did you kill her?”
Hargrove's smile faded.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
May you like
Then he replied.
“No, Viktor. Your mother was alive when I left her. Ask your brother what happened afterward.”
Related Stories
