Chapter 14 - The FuneralMy mother walked into the hospital room.
Alive.
Older than the woman I remembered.
But unmistakably her.
I stared at her.
“You ordered my funeral?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because they were watching you.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
She looked at Evan.
“He was supposed to disappear.”
Then at me.
“You were supposed to grieve him.”
“But you buried someone else.”
“Yes.”
“Michael Reed.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He volunteered.”
Evan stepped forward.
“I found him.”
“You knew?”
“I agreed.”
I looked at him.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I thought it would buy us six weeks.”
“For what?”
“Time to dismantle the network.”
My mother placed a folder on the bed.
Inside were photographs of the network's members.
Politicians.
Bankers.
Lawyers.
Judges.
Business owners.
People I recognized from television.
People who had attended Evan's funeral.
People who had sent me flowers.
I stared at one photograph.
Judith.
Then another.
Daniel Price.
Then another.
My father.
At the bottom was one final photograph.
Me.
Taken when I was eight.
Across the bottom:
THE KEY.
I looked up.
“What am I the key to?”
My mother answered.
“The master account.”
“What master account?”
“The original trust.”
Evan said quietly:
“Your father hid the money there.”
“How much?”
“Enough to buy silence.”
“Or enough to destroy the network.”
“Yes.”
My mother sat beside me.
“You have to access it.”
“How?”
“Your forty-second birthday.”
I stared.
“You lied about my age?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if they knew the real date, they'd come for you.”
Evan reached into his pocket.
He pulled out the gold pendant.
He placed it in my hand.
“The microfilm wasn't inside.”
I looked at him.
“Then what was?”
He smiled sadly.
“The key.”
The pendant opened.
Inside was a tiny chip.
My mother explained.
The chip contained the final authorization.
I stared at it.
“Why give it back to me?”
“Because it's yours.”
A noise came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Megan looked outside.
“Police.”
Relief surged through me.
Then she came back.
Her face was pale.
“They aren't here for us.”
The lights went out.
A voice came over the hospital speaker.
“Caroline Whitaker.”
I froze.
“Your forty-second birthday is tonight.”
Everyone looked at me.
I looked at Evan.
He whispered:
“They found the real date.”
The hospital doors locked.
Security alarms began screaming.
My mother grabbed my hand.
“We have ten minutes.”
“Until what?”
She looked toward the corridor.
“Until everyone who wants you dead arrives.”
The first explosion shook the building.
Evan pulled me close.
Then he whispered:
“There's only one place they can't reach us.”
“Where?”
May you like
He looked at the ceiling.
“The vault.”
