Chapter 20: The Last Witness

The gunshot echoed through the warehouse.

Victor stumbled backwards.

A crimson stain spread across his shoulder.

He crashed into a stack of wooden crates.

"No!" I shouted.

For a moment, everyone froze.

Then chaos erupted.

"Sniper!" Samuel yelled.

"Get down!"

Daniel pulled Lily behind a concrete pillar while Samuel searched the broken windows for the shooter.

Another shot rang out.

It struck the floor just inches from Victor.

"They're trying to finish him," Samuel said.

Victor winced as he pressed his hand against his bleeding shoulder.

"They can't let me talk..."

I ran towards him.

"Maya, stop!" my mother cried.

Ignoring her, I knelt beside Victor.

"Who are they?"

He coughed, struggling to breathe.

"I don't... have much time."

"You'll be okay."

He gave a weak smile.

"Don't make promises... you can't keep."

I swallowed hard.

"Please... tell me the truth."

Victor looked at me for a long moment.

Then he whispered,

"Your father wasn't murdered because of Project Echo."

I frowned.

"Then why?"

"He created it."

The words hit me harder than the gunshot.

"No..."

"Yes."

"He built Echo to expose corruption inside powerful institutions."

Victor paused, grimacing in pain.

"But before he could release the evidence..."

"...they turned his own project against him."

Samuel closed his eyes.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

I looked at him.

"You knew?"

"I suspected."

My mother burst into tears.

"I begged your father to stop."

Victor reached into his jacket with trembling hands.

Daniel instinctively tensed.

Victor slowly pulled out a battered leather notebook.

Its pages were worn and stained with age.

He placed it in my hands.

"This..."

He coughed again.

"...is your father's original journal."

I stared at the faded cover.

Embossed in gold were two words:

Project Echo

"It contains everything," Victor whispered.

"Names..."

"Dates..."

"Every person involved."

Before I could respond, a familiar ringtone echoed through the warehouse.

It was coming from Victor's pocket.

His eyes widened.

"No..."

He looked terrified.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Answer it."

I pulled the phone from his coat.

The screen displayed only one word:

BROTHER

My heart stopped.

My hands began to shake.

Slowly...

I accepted the call.

For a second, there was only silence.

Then the voice I had been searching for all this time spoke.

"Maya..."

It was my brother.

But this time, he wasn't whispering.

He sounded desperate.

"Listen to me carefully."

"You have exactly ten minutes."

"After that..."

"They're coming for all of you."

The line went dead.