“You,” he said softly, “should have died.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Eleven years of trust collapsed in total silence.
Thomas held out his hand.
“The envelope, Jude.”
Jude stared at him.
“You arranged her funeral.”
Thomas’s face didn’t change.
“You stood beside me at her grave.”
“I was fond of Rebecca,” Thomas said. “But this was never personal. She became a problem.”
“You tried to kill her.”
“She was going to destroy everything.”
Rebecca’s voice came steady from behind Jude.
“It was already rotten. You just didn’t want it exposed.”
Thomas’s pleasant mask slipped for the first time.
“There are interests involved here far bigger than either of you understand,” he snapped. “Give me the envelope.”
Jude said nothing.
Then, suddenly, the night outside exploded with white light.
Headlights blazed through every window.
Sirens screamed.
Voices shouted through amplified speakers.
“ARMED POLICE. DO NOT MOVE.”
Thomas froze.
For the first time that night, his confidence vanished.
His men looked toward the windows, recalculating the situation in an instant.
Doors opened outside. Boots hit the ground. More voices. More lights.
Thomas lowered his hand slowly.
A minute later, officers flooded the house and took control of the room with calm, practiced force.
Thomas and his men were disarmed, separated, and handcuffed.
Jude stood in the middle of the room and watched his oldest friend led away in cuffs.
Thomas glanced at him once as he passed.
Jude did not speak.
There was nothing left to say.
Later, when the house finally quieted, Jude found Sophia near the doorway.
It turned out she had sent a message hours earlier—to her father, a retired police officer—because she suspected finding Jude might flush the hunters into the open.
She had been right.
“You knew they might follow me here,” Jude said.
“I thought they might,” Sophia admitted. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
She looked up.
“You were brave,” he said. “And you were right.”
Then he found Rebecca in the kitchen.
She was wrapped in a police blanket, hands flat against the counter, head bowed.
He stood beside her without touching her.
“They’ve arrested him,” he said.
“I know.”
“The envelope is safe.”
“Good.”
Silence.
