Chapter 10: The Reckoning Plan**
By three in the morning, Clara was sleeping peacefully, the fever finally breaking under the heat of the fire and the medicine. Lily was curled up beside her mother, fast asleep, the worn teddy bear tucked under her chin.
In the corner of the rectory library, Julian sat before Father Thomas’s vintage laptop. The micro-drive was plugged into the USB port, and folders full of bank ledgers, offshore shell accounts, wiretaps, and municipal bribe payments populated the screen.
“This is enough to put Marcus Kane and half the city council in federal prison for three lifetimes,” Thomas whispered, staring in horror at the transaction logs. “Julian, why didn’t you take this to the FBI six years ago?”
“Because Kane owned the local field office back then,” Julian replied, his eyes cold and focused. “If I had walked into a police station, Clara and I would have been executed in the booking room.”
Julian scrolled through the files until he found what he was looking for: the personal encrypted communication channel Marcus Kane used to coordinate with his private security detail.
“What are you going to do?” Thomas asked, sensing the dangerous stillness in his old friend.
“Kane thinks I’m still running,” Julian said quietly. “He thinks Clara is cornered and weak. He won’t stop sending hunters until he believes he has won.”
Julian clicked open an email terminal, drafting a direct message to Marcus Kane’s private address.
*“The docks. Warehouse 4. Sunrise. Bring yourself and no one else, or every major media outlet and the Department of Justice receives the complete archive in thirty minutes.”*
Julian hit send.
He stood up, checking the magazine of the suppressed pistol he had taken from the enforcer.
“Julian, this is madness,” Thomas pleaded. “You’re walking into an ambush!”
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“No,” Julian said, looking back at his sleeping wife and daughter. “I’m ending the nightmare so they can wake up in the sun.”
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