Episode Nine
1117 Words
Rain drums on the roof. Neither of us moves.
Lucas keeps his hands visible on his knees, like I’m the one with the gun.
“Your uncle’s name is Ethan Beckett,” he says.
“He faked his death ten years ago. After your dad started digging.”
I clutch Mom’s letter tighter. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because if I don’t, you’ll walk into that bank alone and they’ll kill you before you reach Box 347,” he says.
I laugh. It comes out bitter. “Mama said not to trust you.”
“Mama was right to be scared,” Lucas says. “But she was wrong about me. I left because Ethan found me first. He told me if I stayed close to you to get him informations, he’d let you live. If I told you anything, he’d kill both of us.”
"To get him informations?" My Eyes widened in disbelief. "You're a stalker isn't it?"
"No I'm nothing like that. He sent me to buy him informations. YES. But when I saw you, I just couldn't. I swear I never deceived you ''
_How am I to believe that?_
My throat tightens. “So you let me think you abandoned me.”
“I let you hate me so you’d stay away,” Lucas says. “It was the only way to keep you alive. You don't deserve someone like me”
Outside, headlights sweep past on the main road. Too slow. Someone looking.
Lucas follows my eyes. “We don’t have time for this. Box 347 has the proof. But Ethan knows about it too. If he gets there first, he’ll burn it.”
I look down at the key. Cold metal against my palm.
“Why help me now?” I ask.
"You left me and now tryna help me out of the blue"
“Because I’m tired of watching you run,” Lucas says quietly. “And because if Lucas wins, he doesn’t stop with you.”
-----
First National is closed. 2 AM on a Sunday.
Lucas parks two blocks down and kills the engine.
“There’s a back entrance for staff,” he says. “Ethan will go for the front. He thinks you’ll panic and try the main doors.”
“And you know this how?”
_*_Puzzle keeps coming uninvited*__
“Because I worked for him for three years,” Lucas says. “Before I ran.”
That lands hard. I don’t respond.
The plan is simple and stupid. I go in through the back with the key. Lucas creates a distraction at the front to pull Ethan away. If it works, I get the box and we meet at the old bus depot.
If it doesn’t, I’m on my own.
“You don’t have to do this,” Lucas says as I reach for the door.
“Yes, I do,” I say. “For Dad.”
He nods once. “If I’m not at the depot in twenty minutes, don’t wait.”
I don’t answer that.
The back door is an old steel fire exit. No alarm. Just a rusted lock.
The key fits.
**
The bank smells like dust and old money.
My footsteps echo down the hallway to the vault room. Emergency lights cast everything in sickly green.
Box 347 is on the bottom row. Corner. Hard to see unless you know it’s there.
The key slides in smooth.
The box opens.
Inside: a flash drive, a folded deed, and a second envelope.
The deed is for our old house. The one we lost after Dad died. It’s in my name.
The envelope has my name on it again.
I open it first.
_Silvia,
If you’re reading this, you made it. Good girl.
The flash drive has copies of the ledger. Every transfer, every name. Ethan’s been running this for twenty years. Politicians, police, judges. All of them.
Take it to Detective Edwin. He’s retired now, but he’ll know what to do.
I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you better.
Your Mom_
No mention of Lucas?. No warning this time.
Footsteps echo down the hall. Heavy. Multiple people.
Ethan’s voice carries: “She came through the back. Check the vault!”
I shove everything into my jacket and close the box.
Too late.
The vault door swings open.
Ethan Beckett looks exactly like Damien. Though the one I can picture in my head.. Older. Harder.
He’s 50, maybe 55, with gray at his temples and eyes that don’t blink enough.
Wait.......... another puzzle......
I thought Lucas said Ethan is my uncle.... But this is a carbon copy of Damien
Good God .... What's happening?
Silvia this is not a time to be lost in thought. I quickly dispelled the silly thought
Behind him are two armed men. Damien isn’t with them.
“Give me the box,” Ethan says.
I step back, flash drive burning a hole in my pocket.
“You killed my dad,” I say.
Ethan tilts his head. “Your father was too proud....... and asides, He was a problem. He threatened to expose twenty years of work. I gave him a choice. He chose poorly.”
“You’ll say the same about me,” I say.
“No,” Ethan says. “You’re family. Family can be useful.”
One of the men steps forward.
Lucas’s voice comes from behind them: “Hands up. Now.”
He’s holding a gun. Old police issue. Where he got it, I don’t ask.
_But is this guy psycho?. Only him is gonna face a troop of maniacs_ ?
Ethan doesn’t move.
“Lucas,” he says. “After everything I did for you, this is how you repay me?”
“You told me to watch her,” Lucas says. “I did. And I chose her.”
For a second, no one breathes.
Then Ethan smiles.
“Then you both die.”
😭
Gunfire.
I hit the floor as Lucas fires.
One of Ethan’s men goes down. The other grabs Ethan and drags him back toward the hall.
“Run!” Lucas yells.
I grab the box and run.
We make it to the hallway before the lights cut out.
_Good Lord_
Darkness. Thick one
A shot.
Lucas grunts.
“Lucas!”
“I’m fine,” he says, but his voice is tight.
My heart tighten as adrenaline rush through my body
Footsteps behind us. Ethan’s voice, calm now:
“You can’t run forever, Silvia. And Lucas… you’re already dead to me.”
A hand grabs my ankle in the dark.
..
---
Yeeeehhh ....
Guess who grabbed her ankle in the dark 😭
- Writer
