Chapter 4 - The SonThomas Bell was alive. But he wasn't the man I thought he was.
Thomas looked thinner.
Older.
His hair had turned almost completely gray.
The scar across his left cheek hadn't been there the last time I'd seen him.
But the eyes were the same.
Tired.
Sharp.
Terrified.
He lowered the gun.
“I'm sorry.”
I stared at him.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let your wife identify another body?”
“Yes.”
“You let everyone think you stole from Kane?”
“Yes.”
“And you hid half a million dollars in a fifty-dollar car?”
Thomas looked at Melissa.
“She told you.”
“She told me enough.”
He closed the storage unit door.
Then checked the locks.
“Then we don't have much time.”
I stepped toward him.
“Who is Edward Voss?”
Thomas's expression changed.
“You found the letter.”
“Yes.”
“What else did you find?”
I showed him the photograph.
He went silent.
“You know the boy.”
“That's Derek.”
“Edward says Richard isn't his father.”
Thomas looked at me.
“Edward was Derek's father.”
I stared.
The room suddenly felt much smaller.
“You're saying Richard raised another man's son?”
“Not willingly.”
Thomas explained.
Edward had been having an affair with Richard's wife, Catherine, before Richard took control of Kane Automotive.
Derek had been born from that affair.
Richard discovered the truth years later.
But instead of exposing it, he used the secret against everyone.
He threatened Catherine.
He controlled Edward.
And when Edward tried to leave, Richard destroyed him.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because Edward had something Richard couldn't buy.”
“What?”
“Proof.”
Thomas walked to one of the boxes.
He opened it.
Inside was an old accounting ledger.
“This was the beginning.”
He placed it on the desk.
The numbers were handwritten.
Payments.
Transfers.
Names.
Dates.
I recognized several companies.
Then I saw one name that made my stomach tighten.
A federal contractor.
Another belonged to a bank.
Another was a political consulting firm.
“This is bigger than Kane Automotive.”
Thomas nodded.
“Much bigger.”
“What is Bellgrave Holdings?”
“Richard's private clearing account.”
“And the $500,000?”
“Richard paid someone to kill Edward.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
Thomas pointed to a line in the ledger.
A transaction from twelve years ago.
$500,000.
Recipient:
BELLGRAVE HOLDINGS.
Description:
VOSS.
I felt sick.
“The cash under the mat isn't stolen money.”
“No.”
“It's payment money.”
“Yes.”
“Why would Richard leave it inside the BMW?”
Thomas looked at me.
“He didn't.”
Silence.
“Edward took it.”
I understood.
Edward hadn't been killed immediately.
He had stolen the money intended for his murder.
And he had hidden it.
Thomas continued.
“He spent twelve years moving evidence from one place to another. Every time Richard got close, Edward disappeared again.”
“Where is Edward now?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Dead.”
“You just said he wasn't.”
“He survived Richard's first attempt.”
“But eventually?”
Thomas looked down.
“Edward died six months ago.”
“Natural causes?”
“No.”
Thomas's voice became almost inaudible.
“He was poisoned.”
Melissa closed her eyes.
I looked at the ledger.
“Who killed him?”
Thomas didn't answer.
That was when I noticed the final page.
There was a list of names.
Six people.
Edward Voss.
Thomas Bell.
Melissa Bell.
Me.
Derek Kane.
And a sixth name.
Grace Mercer.
My mother.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“My mother?”
Thomas stared at me.
“She knew Edward.”
“My mother died when I was seventeen.”
“I know.”
“What did she know?”
Thomas opened his mouth.
A gunshot came through the window.
The bullet slammed into the wall.
Thomas grabbed Melissa.
“DOWN!”
We dropped behind the desk.
Another shot.
Then another.
Thomas peeked outside.
“Two shooters.”
“Who?”
“Kane's men.”
He looked at me.
“They know we're here.”
I pulled out my phone.
A message had arrived.
UNKNOWN:
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHY SHE KEPT EDWARD'S SECRET.
My heart pounded.
“My mother is dead.”
Thomas looked at the message.
Then his face changed.
He whispered:
“Evan…”
May you like
“What?”
“Your mother may not have died when you think she did.”
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