Chapter 19 - Burning the Ledger
Dawn broke over Lake Michigan, casting a pale gold light through the receding storm clouds.
We stood on a high, secluded bluff overlooking the water, ten miles north of the Gary docks. Victor had taken the truck to get his injuries treated at a quiet clinic down state, leaving Claire, the kids, and me alone on the windy overlook.
In my hands, I held the master encrypted mirror drive—the Phantom Ledger—that I had recovered from Dominic's body at the steel mill, along with Marcus Vance's master clearance key.
This small piece of black plastic held enough corruption, secrets, and blood to tear down three state governments and ignite a dozen gang wars. It was the reason Adrian Vance had never been truly free.
Claire walked up beside me, wrapped in a warm wool blanket, holding Eli and Lily by their hands.
"Is that it?" she asked softly, looking down at the drive in my palm.
"This is the ghost," I said. "The last one."
I pulled a small canister of thermite paste from my pocket, coated the drive entirely, and laid it on a flat stone at the edge of the bluff. I struck a flare and touched it to the mixture.
A brilliant, white-hot blinding flame ignited instantly, burning at three thousand degrees.
We stood together in silence, watching the plastic, the silicon, and the dark secrets melt into a useless puddle of glowing liquid slag. When the fire died down, a gust of lake wind picked up the gray ash and blew it far out over the deep blue water, scattering it to the edge of the world.
The ledger was gone. Marcus Vance was gone. Dominic Thorne was gone.
There were no more files. No more federal handlers. No more leverage.
Adrian Vance was finally, truly, dead.
Claire reached out, taking my hand, her fingers intertwining with mine. "Where do we go now, David?"
May you like
I looked down at her, then at Eli and Lily, who were watching a pair of seagulls soar over the waves.
"Home," I said softly. "We go home."
