The Blue Ledger

Elena grabbed the ledger and ran. She burst out of the storage unit, sprinting past the rows of orange doors, her boots pounding the asphalt. The sirens were deafening now, a wall of noise approaching from Halloway Road.

She didn't know where she was going. She just knew she couldn't be caught with this book.

She turned a corner, skidding on loose gravel. The fence loomed ahead, a chain-link barrier topped with razor wire.

There was a gap. A section where the mesh had been pulled away, just wide enough for a person.

She squeezed through, the wire snagging her coat. She ripped free, stumbling into the alley behind the facility.

It was a dead end.

High brick walls on three sides. Dumpsters. Trash.

And standing at the mouth of the alley, blocking her escape, was the black SUV.

The door opened.

Julian stepped out.

He wasn't wearing the mechanic's jumpsuit anymore. He was back in his expensive suit, though it was rumpled and stained with soot. He held a tire iron in one hand, tapping it rhythmically against his thigh.

"End of the line, sis," he said.

He wasn't alone.

The driver got out. A man Elena recognized from the train. One of the Governor's men.

"Give us the book, Ms. Vance," the man said, drawing a gun. "And we'll make this painless."

Elena backed up until her back hit the brick wall. She clutched the ledger to her chest.

"You don't want the book, Julian," she said, her voice trembling. "You really don't."

"I want the money," Julian said, stepping closer. "Sarah said the offshore accounts are in there. Billions, Elena. Enough to disappear."

"There is no money," Elena said. "Arthur spent it. On lawyers. On bribes. On *him*."

She pointed at the man with the gun.

"He works for Halloway. The man who really owns this family."

Julian frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Arthur wasn't our father," Elena said. She opened the ledger to the last page. To the photo. "Look."

She held it up.

Julian squinted. He saw the photo. Meredith and Halloway.

He saw the resemblance. The green eyes.

"No," he whispered. "That's... that's impossible."

"Arthur was sterile," Elena said. "He couldn't have children. So he bought them. Or he stole them."

She looked at the Governor's man.

"Does he know?" she asked. "Does Halloway know he has a son?"

The man didn't answer. He just raised the gun.

"Give me the book."

"Julian," Elena said, her voice urgent. "He's not here to help you get the money. He's here to clean up the loose ends. And you're a loose end."

Julian looked at the man. Then at Elena.

For a second, the greed in his eyes flickered, replaced by doubt.

"Is that true?" Julian asked the man.

"It doesn't matter," the man said. "The book. Now."

He aimed the gun at Elena's head.

"Drop it!" Julian shouted, swinging the tire iron.

He wasn't aiming at Elena. He was aiming at the gunman.

The iron connected with the man's wrist. The gun fired, the bullet striking the brick wall inches from Elena's ear.

The man roared in pain, dropping the weapon.

Julian didn't hesitate. He swung again, hitting the man in the temple. The thug crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Julian stood over him, breathing hard. He looked at Elena.

"You better be right about the money," he said. "Or I'll kill you myself."

He held out his hand.

"Give me the book."

Elena looked at the ledger. Then at her brother.

She could give it to him. Let him find out the hard way that there was nothing left but debts and secrets.

Or she could use it.

She heard sirens. Police cars were pulling into the alley entrance, blocking the SUV.

"We're trapped," Julian said, panic rising in his voice.

"Not yet," Elena said.

She pointed to the fire escape ladder hanging above the dumpsters. It was rusted, broken, but reachable.

"Up," she said.

"Are you crazy?"

"Do you want to explain that body to the cops?" she asked, gesturing to the unconscious hitman.

Julian cursed. He ran to the dumpster, climbing onto the lid. He jumped, grabbing the bottom rung of the ladder. It groaned, rust showering down, but it held.

He pulled himself up.

He reached down a hand for Elena.

"Come on!"

Elena climbed the dumpster. She reached up.

But she didn't take his hand.

She threw the ledger.

It sailed through the air, landing on the metal platform of the fire escape with a heavy thud.

Julian scrambled for it, grabbing it like a lifeline.

"Got it!" he shouted.

Elena dropped back down to the alley floor.

"What are you doing?" Julian screamed, looking down at her. "Climb!"

"No," Elena said. "You take the book. I'll take the fall."

"What?"

"If they catch me with it, they'll bury it," she said. "If you escape with it... maybe you can use it. To save Sarah. To save Mom."

Julian stared at her. For the first time in his life, he looked at her not as a rival, but as a sister.

"Elena..."

"Go!" she shouted. "Run!"

The police burst into the alley, guns drawn.

"Freeze! Police!"

Julian looked at the cops. Then at the book. Then at Elena.

He turned and ran up the fire escape, disappearing onto the roof.

Elena raised her hands.

She was unarmed. She was alone. And she was about to be arrested for arson, assault, and possibly murder.

But she smiled.

Because Julian had the ledger.

And on the back of the photo, the one she hadn't shown him...

Was a phone number.

Not for a bank. Not for a lawyer.

For the press.

Elena Vance was done hiding.