“All right.”
And for the first time, she understood.
She was not fighting alone.
The unexpected ally arrived in the form of Wade.
He came to Carter's Garage without his truck.
No jacket.
No paperwork.
Just an exhausted expression.
Frank immediately stepped between him and Maggie.
“What do you want?”
Wade raised his hands.
“I came to tell the truth.”
Maggie studied him.
“Why?”
“Because Calder fired me.”
Frank laughed.
“You're surprised?”
Wade ignored him.
“I worked for him for six years.”
Maggie said nothing.
“I thought I was helping him buy land.”
“And then?”
“I found out how he was doing it.”
Wade pulled a small memory drive from his pocket.
“He paid people to damage properties.”
Frank's face hardened.
“Evidence?”
“Emails. Contracts. Payment records.”
Maggie stared at the drive.
“Why bring this to me?”
“Because your husband warned me.”
Maggie froze.
“What?”
Wade swallowed.
“Years ago, I was a junior property agent. Calder sent me to negotiate with Roy.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘One day you will understand that money doesn't make a man powerful. What he refuses to sell does.’”
Maggie's eyes filled with tears.
“Roy said that?”
“Yes.”
Wade looked down.
“I didn't understand then.”
“And now?”
“Now I do.”
Frank took the drive.
“We'll give this to Samuel.”
Wade nodded.
“There is more.”
“What?”
“Calder plans to burn the garage.”
Silence.
Maggie's face went white.
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Frank immediately turned.
“Everyone out.”
Maggie grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“What?”
“If he burns the garage, he destroys evidence.”
“We're not waiting here.”
“We don't have to.”
She looked at Wade.
“You said he plans to do it tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Then we let him come.”
Frank stared at her.
“Absolutely not.”
Maggie smiled.
“You keep forgetting something.”
“What?”
“This is my garage.”
She walked toward the office.
“We have cameras.”
Frank blinked.
“Cameras?”
“Roy installed them after somebody stole a carburetor.”
Tom laughed.
“Of course he did.”
Maggie pulled out an old monitor.
The cameras were still connected.
Frank smiled slowly.
“Then we don't have to fight.”
Maggie nodded.
“We just have to watch.”
They called the police.
They called Samuel.
They informed the county.
Then they turned off the exterior lights.
At midnight, the garage appeared empty.
At 12:37, headlights appeared.
A truck stopped behind the building.
Two men got out.
One carried a fuel container.
The camera recorded everything.
Then another vehicle arrived.
Calder stepped out.
Maggie stared at the screen.
The man she had never met had finally come himself.
Calder walked toward the garage.
The police were waiting nearby.
Frank whispered into the radio.
“Not yet.”
Calder opened the back door.
He looked around.