Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGEDViktor stood motionless.
Hargrove's pistol remained pointed at his chest.
Outside, rain battered the workshop roof.
The captain studied him with the patient expression of a man who believed he had already won.
“You look surprised,” Hargrove said.
Viktor's voice was barely audible.
“What did you mean?”
Hargrove smiled faintly.
“About Milan?”
Viktor said nothing.
The captain stepped closer.
“Your brother has always been easier to manipulate than you.”
Viktor tightened his grip on the notebook.
“Don't talk about him.”
“Why not? He played a very important role.”
Viktor felt his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
“Tell me what happened to my mother.”
Hargrove glanced toward the door.
“Seven years ago, Elena Sokolov made a mistake. She believed that if she collected enough evidence, the authorities would protect her.”
He paused.
“She didn't understand that some of those authorities were already working for Richard Vale.”
Viktor stared.
“Did you arrange the accident?”
Hargrove's expression remained unreadable.
“I arranged for her to be intercepted.”
“By Bennett?”
“Yes.”
Viktor swallowed.
“And then?”
“She refused to cooperate.”
Hargrove lowered his voice.
“She had hidden the second archive. Bennett wanted its location.”
Viktor looked toward the letter.
The community garden.
His mother had hidden something there.
Something worth killing for.
Hargrove continued.
“Bennett threatened her family. She still refused.”
Viktor felt his chest tightening.
“What happened?”
Hargrove hesitated.
For the first time, his confidence seemed to falter.
“She escaped.”
Viktor stared.
“What?”
“She managed to get away from Bennett. She drove toward the city.”
“And?”
Hargrove looked directly at him.
“She called Milan.”
Viktor closed his eyes.
His brother had told him that much.
But there was more.
There had always been more.
“Bennett intercepted the envelope Milan was carrying,” Hargrove said. “He believed it contained the archive.”
“But it didn't.”
“No.”
Hargrove smiled coldly.
“It contained a list of witnesses.”
Viktor felt sick.
People his mother had trusted.
People who might have testified.
Hargrove continued.
“Bennett was furious. He went after Elena again.”
Viktor's hands trembled.
“Did he kill her?”
Hargrove said nothing.
Then he whispered, “Your brother saw what happened.”
Viktor stared.
“Milan was there?”
“Yes.”
The words shattered something inside him.
For seven years, Milan had carried a secret far worse than Viktor imagined.
Hargrove stepped closer.
“Now give me the notebook.”
Viktor looked down.
His mother's handwriting filled the pages.
Evidence of suffering.
Evidence of courage.
Evidence that the truth had survived despite everything done to bury it.
He slowly lowered the notebook.
Hargrove smiled.
“Good.”
Viktor placed it on the workbench.
Then he looked toward the captain.
“You know what my mother taught me?”
Hargrove frowned.
“What?”
“That fear only wins when decent people stop doing the right thing.”
The captain's expression hardened.
“Don't be foolish.”
Viktor looked past him.
At the doorway.
A shadow moved.
Gabriel.
The detective stood outside, pale from blood loss but holding his weapon steady.
“Hargrove,” he said.
The captain spun.
Viktor dropped behind the workbench.
A gunshot exploded.
Wood splintered.
Gabriel shouted.
“Drop the weapon!”
Hargrove fired again.
The bullet struck the doorframe.
Viktor grabbed the metal box and crawled toward the rear window.
He smashed the glass with a heavy wrench.
Cold rain struck his face.
He climbed through.
Behind him, gunfire echoed.
Then silence.
Viktor landed in the mud.
He turned.
Gabriel emerged from the doorway.
His face was white.
Blood ran down his arm.
Hargrove lay on the workshop floor, wounded but conscious.
Gabriel had shot him in the leg.
The captain groaned.
Viktor rushed toward Gabriel.
“You should be resting!”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“Apparently, I'm terrible at following medical advice.”
Viktor looked toward Hargrove.
“We need to question him.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“We need to get everyone out.”
Viktor held up the box.
“I found my mother's letter.”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“Did she tell you where the archive is?”
Viktor hesitated.
Then nodded.
“I think so.”
Gabriel looked toward the forest.
“Then we have to move.”
Suddenly, a voice sounded behind them.
“Neither of you is going anywhere.”
Viktor turned.
Thomas Bennett stood near the garage.
His rifle was pointed directly at Gabriel.
Beside him stood Milan.
His hands were raised.
His face was streaked with tears.
Bennett smiled.
“Good work, Milan.”
Viktor felt the world collapse.
“Milan?”
His brother shook his head desperately.
“Viktor, I didn't have a choice.”
Bennett pressed the rifle against Milan's shoulder.
“Actually, he did.”
May you like
Then he looked at Viktor.
“And now you're going to hear what your brother did the night your mother died.”
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