Chapter 18 - The Conspiracy Unraveled
It wasn't Arthur’s gun that had fired.
Agent Cross had taken the shot, hitting Arthur cleanly in the shoulder. The revolver slipped from Arthur’s numb fingers, clattering across the black ice. Arthur collapsed to his knees, clutching his wound, crying out in pain and defeat as two federal agents rushed forward to cuff him.
Liam stood unmoving in the center of the frozen bay, his chest heaving, steam rising from his soot-stained sweater.
Nora broke away from the police perimeter, ignoring the slippery ice, running as fast as her boots could carry her. "Liam!"
Liam met her halfway, catching her in his arms, lifting her off her feet as she threw her arms around his neck. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in the clean, sweet scent of her, shaking off the ashes of his past.
"You came back," she sobbed softly, pressing kisses to his cheeks, his chin, his forehead. "You came back to me."
"I told you," Liam whispered, his voice thick with emotion as he cupped her face. "I'm never leaving you again."
Agent Cross walked over, his expression solemn as he looked at the couple. He lowered his weapon and looked down at the burning ruins of the ice-house behind them.
"Mr. Vance," Cross said, his tone devoid of the hostility from the day before. "The recordings clear you completely of the Mercer homicide and the offshore fraud. Arthur Pendelton will be spending the rest of his life in a federal penitentiary."
Cross paused, reaching out to hand Liam a handkerchief to wipe the soot from his brow. "You were framed, Liam. The Department of Justice owes you an apology. Your record is officially expunged."
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Liam looked at the badge, then down at Nora’s tear-stained face. For the first time in five long, agonizing years, the heavy weight in his chest—the crushing guilt, the paranoia, the fear of the unknown—dissolved into the winter air.
He was truly free.
