Chapter 23 - Beneath Ashport FederalThe vault beneath Ashport Federal had been built before World War II.
The Crown had been hiding money there for generations.
Charles wanted Daniel brought inside.
Federal agents refused.
Ronan offered himself instead.
Charles accepted.
Sadie hated the plan.
“You're not going alone.”
“Yes.”
“Family rule four.”
“No lying.”
“Rule five.”
“Listen before deciding.”
“You skipped that one.”
Ronan kissed her.
“I listened.”
“And?”
“I decided you're right.”
Sadie blinked.
“Oh.”
“You were prepared for an argument.”
“Yes.”
“Disappointed?”
“A little.”
Maeve accompanied Ronan through the tunnel.
Sadie remained with the tactical team.
Charles waited inside the old vault.
Twelve hostages knelt along the wall.
Among them was Wesley.
Ronan stared.
Wesley looked embarrassed.
“I came to deposit a check.”
Ronan almost laughed.
Of course.
Charles stood beside the reserve controls.
“You brought your sister.”
Maeve smiled.
“You missed me?”
“No.”
“Your messages suggested otherwise.”
Charles raised the detonator.
Explosives lined the vault.
If he could not possess the Crown reserve, nobody would.
Ronan understood something.
Charles no longer wanted to win.
He wanted witnesses to his destruction.
“Your father is alive,” Ronan said.
Charles flinched.
“He asked about you.”
“Liar.”
“He did.”
Charles's hand tightened.
“He said he should have chosen courage.”
“Stop.”
“He loves you.”
“STOP.”
Ronan stepped closer.
“You spent your whole life trying to punish him for not loving you correctly.”
Charles pointed the gun at him.
“And you think you're different?”
“Yes.”
Charles laughed.
“Why?”
Ronan thought of Poppy.
Sadie.
Elias.
Eleanor.
Maeve.
“Because when the people I love tell me I hurt them, I'm learning to listen.”
Charles stared.
Then Wesley sneezed.
Everyone turned.
Wesley whispered:
“Sorry.”
Maeve moved.
She struck Charles's arm.
Ronan lunged.
The detonator fell.
A gun fired.
Wesley tackled one guard.
Federal agents breached.
Sadie heard explosions of sound through the radio.
Then silence.
“Ronan?”
Nothing.
“Ronan!”
Static.
She ran toward the vault before anyone could stop her.
Smoke filled the chamber.
Hostages emerged.
Maeve appeared with blood on her forehead.
“Where is he?”
Maeve pointed.
Sadie found Ronan sitting against the wall.
Blood covered his shirt.
“No.”
She dropped beside him.
“Ronan.”
He looked down.
Then pulled open his jacket.
No wound.
The blood belonged to Charles.
Sadie hit his shoulder.
“You absolute—”
Then kissed him.
Hard.
Ronan looked surprised.
“I thought I was about to be yelled at.”
“You are.”
“Later?”
“Much.”
Charles lay nearby.
Alive.
Shot through the shoulder.
Federal agents cuffed him.
As they lifted him, Charles looked at Ronan.
“You think this fixes your family?”
Ronan looked at Sadie.
Then Maeve.
Then Wesley, who was being treated for a broken nose while complaining about his check.
“No.”
Ronan answered.
“Families aren't fixed.”
He took Sadie's hand.
“They're chosen every day.”
Charles was taken away.
The reserve was seized.
The Crown finally collapsed.
No hidden leader.
No secret replacement.
No remaining empire.
Just evidence.
Trials.
Victims who could finally be identified.
Families who could finally search for the people taken from them.
Outside the bank, dawn broke over Ashport.
Sadie leaned against Ronan.
Then suddenly covered her mouth.
“What?”
She ran toward a trash can and vomited.
Ronan stared.
Maeve stared.
Wesley stared.
Sadie slowly straightened.
Ronan whispered:
“Oh.”
Sadie wiped her mouth.
“That proves nothing.”
Maeve smiled.
“It proves enough for me.”
Ronan looked as though he might faint.
Sadie pointed at him.
“Don't.”
“I wasn't.”
“You're pale.”
“I've been inside an explosive-filled vault.”
“You weren't pale then.”
Wesley raised his hand.
“Should I leave?”
May you like
Everyone shouted:
“Yes.”
