Chapter 12 - THE OTHER OWEN
The two men were not identical.
Not truly.
But in the unstable red light, wearing similar dark suits, they could have passed at a distance.
The newcomer had Owen’s height, Owen’s build, and a professionally altered face shaped to resemble him.
His eyes were brown.
His voice was different.
“That was disappointing,” he said. “I expected Arthur’s widow to last longer.”
Owen moved in front of Clara and Elena.
The impostor held a suppressed pistol low beside his leg.
“Don’t,” he said.
Owen stopped.
Clara’s gaze moved across the evidence room.
Metal shelves.
Locked cages.
One emergency exit behind the impostor.
No safe angle.
The man looked at Elena.
“Give me the key.”
Elena’s hand remained at her side.
“What key?”
He smiled.
“Daniel was right. You’ve become less cooperative.”
Margaret’s breathing turned ragged.
“He questioned me for an hour.”
Owen said, “Who are you?”
“Someone who wore your name better than you did.”
“You planted the passport.”
“I planted several things.”
“For Daniel?”
The impostor’s smile faded.
“Daniel is useful. Do not mistake that for leadership.”
Clara understood.
There was another layer above Daniel.
A network he served but did not control.
“Victor,” she said.
The man’s eyes shifted to her.
That was enough.
Elena whispered, “Our father sent you.”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Clara took one slow step sideways, placing a shelving unit between Elena and the gun.
“Then who runs Marlowe?”
The impostor raised the pistol slightly.
“The key.”
Owen’s voice remained calm.
“The police will secure this building.”
“The police are currently evacuating due to a chemical leak.”
“You won’t get through the perimeter.”
“I already did.”
He looked like Owen because he had walked through the station under Owen’s identity.
The real Owen had unknowingly created access for him.
Clara noticed a green light blinking on the wall behind the impostor.
Evidence refrigeration system.
A compressed-gas suppression valve ran overhead.
She needed him to look away.
“Arthur’s ledger isn’t here,” Clara said.
He watched her.
“Margaret told you that.”
“She told me enough.”
Margaret stared at Clara, confused.
Clara continued.
“The original is inside the black envelope.”
The impostor’s attention dropped to her hand.
The envelope’s silver seal reflected the red emergency light.
He wanted it more than the key.
That gave Clara leverage.
She held it near the overhead sprinkler pipe.
“One shot could rupture the chemical strip.”
“You don’t know what’s inside.”
“Neither do you.”
His mouth tightened.
“Put it down.”
“No.”
“Elena will suffer first.”
Clara saw Daniel’s method in the threat.
Control one sister through the other.
Owen shifted his weight.
The impostor swung the gun toward him.
That was the opening.
Clara pulled the suppression valve.
Compressed white gas exploded from the ceiling.
The evidence room vanished in a freezing cloud.
The impostor fired.
The bullet struck metal.
Elena dropped.
Owen lunged through the vapor.
Bodies collided against the shelves.
Clara crawled toward Elena and found her unhurt, pressed beneath a table.
Margaret screamed.
A second shot rang out.
Then a third.
The refrigeration alarm began shrieking.
Clara pulled Elena toward the emergency exit.
The door opened from the other side.
Daniel stood there.
He grabbed Elena by the hair and dragged her through.
Clara seized his jacket.
Daniel struck her forearm with the edge of his hand and slammed the door between them.
The lock engaged.
“Elena!”
Clara pounded the metal.
Through the narrow reinforced window, she saw Daniel forcing Elena down the corridor.
She still carried the red key.
The impostor emerged from the gas behind Clara.
Blood ran from a cut above his eye.
His pistol was gone.
Owen followed and drove him into a shelf.
They fought with brutal efficiency, no wasted motion.
The impostor struck Owen’s throat and broke free.
Clara swung a metal evidence tray into his face.
He fell.
Margaret kicked the pistol under a cabinet.
Owen pinned him.
“Who sent you?”
The man laughed despite the blood in his mouth.
“You still think you’re the only son.”
Owen’s grip tightened.
“What does that mean?”
The impostor looked toward Clara.
“Ask Victor how many families he built.”
Then his body convulsed.
Like the security officer, he had activated a hidden toxin.
Owen tried to keep his airway open.
The man smiled once.
“Daniel has the beneficiary.”
Clara turned toward the locked door.
A monitor above the evidence cage flickered on.
Security footage showed Daniel pulling Elena into the courthouse tunnel.
Rawlins waited with a vehicle at the far exit.
Elena twisted in Daniel’s grip.
The red key fell from her bandage.
Rawlins picked it up.
May you like
Daniel looked directly into the security camera.
Then he drew a knife and held it against Elena’s throat.
