Chapter 18 - The Exchange
Jonathan demanded the exchange at midnight.
An abandoned ferry terminal.
Federal agents wanted Clara nowhere near it.
Elias agreed with them.
Clara refused.
“I won't go inside. But he needs to believe I'm there.”
Ultimately, a compromise.
Clara remained in an armored vehicle several blocks away.
Marianne carried the transfer documents.
Jonathan arrived alone.
Or appeared to.
Agents later found two hired men stationed nearby.
Marianne stood beneath the terminal lights.
Jonathan approached carrying a metal case.
“You've aged well,” he said.
“I wish I could say the same.”
He smiled.
“You always were loyal to the wrong Voss.”
“I was loyal to Isabelle.”
“Exactly.”
Jonathan placed the case down.
“The transfer.”
Marianne held up the documents.
“The ledger first.”
He opened the case.
Stacks of original papers.
Greyhaven.
Twenty years of secrets.
Marianne looked through them.
Then stopped.
“Page 217?”
Jonathan's face changed for less than a second.
“Not necessary.”
Marianne smiled.
That was when Jonathan understood.
“You have it.”
Agents emerged.
Jonathan ran.
He reached the waterfront before realizing every exit had already been closed.
Rachel intercepted him near the pier.
Jonathan stared at the officers surrounding him.
Then he began laughing.
“You think this ends anything?”
Clara heard the audio remotely.
Jonathan shouted toward the darkness.
“Your father still used the money!”
Clara pressed the communication button.
Her voice came through a speaker near Marianne.
“And he's returning it.”
Jonathan stopped laughing.
“What?”
“He disclosed everything.”
Silence.
“He's cooperating with regulators.”
Jonathan stared at Marianne.
“No.”
Clara continued.
“You built your life around the belief that everyone is as afraid of truth as you are.”
Jonathan's shoulders slowly fell.
“My father isn't.”
Agents placed him in handcuffs.
May you like
For the first time in more than twenty years, Jonathan Sterling existed under his real name again.
And this time, there was nowhere left to disappear.
