Chapter 11 - The Choice
I called Marcus.
He answered immediately.
“Elena, where are you?”
“Did you take a music box from my house?”
Silence.
“Who told you?”
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Your father instructed me to.”
“My father has been dead for six years.”
“He left a contingency letter with the FBI.”
“Dana knew?”
“No.”
“Where is the box?”
“Safe.”
“My brother has Mom and Rachel.”
“I heard.”
“He wants it.”
“He cannot have it.”
“Then they die.”
“If he gets the evidence, many more people could die.”
The cold logic in his voice frightened me.
“These are not numbers, Marcus. They are my family.”
“And Crown has destroyed dozens of families.”
“Where are you?”
“I cannot tell you.”
“Then send the box to Dana.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Dana’s supervisor is compromised.”
I looked across the command center toward Dana.
She was speaking with technicians tracing Julian’s call.
“Who?”
“Deputy Director Paul Haines.”
“Evidence?”
“The plane used to transport Rachel was registered to a company owned by his brother.”
“Tell Dana.”
“I did. Three months ago.”
“What happened?”
“My source disappeared.”
“Rachel?”
“No. Your father’s hospice nurse.”
The nurse who administered Dad’s final medication.
She might know whether Julian had killed him.
“What was her name?”
“Beatrice Cole.”
I remembered her.
She vanished from the hospice facility after Dad died. Administrators said she moved overseas.
“Is she alive?”
“I don’t know.”
“Marcus, tell me where the box is.”
He ended the call.
Dana approached.
“We traced Julian’s phone to a tower near the lake.”
“The cabin.”
“Possibly.”
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“He gave me two hours.”
“And expects you to lead him to the evidence.”
“He already knows Marcus has it.”
Dana stared at me.
“How?”
“Marcus admitted taking it.”
Her expression became unreadable.
“You called him?”
“Yes.”
“I told you not to.”
“He says your deputy director is compromised.”
“I know.”
That surprised me.
“You know?”
“Haines has been under internal surveillance for eight weeks.”
“Why didn’t you tell Marcus?”
“Because Marcus is the person Haines contacted most frequently.”
Each side believed the other was compromised.
Perhaps both were correct.
Dana received an update.
Thermal imaging from the lake cabin showed four people inside.
Julian.
Mom.
Rachel.
And an unidentified fourth person.
Chloe was still in custody.
Samuel Pike was under surveillance.
Senator Reed had disappeared.
The fourth person could be Reed.
Or Judge Thorne.
A tactical team surrounded the property but did not enter. Julian had placed Mom and Rachel near windows and warned that any visible police movement would end negotiations.
At 4:03 p.m., a video arrived on my phone.
Mom and Rachel sat back-to-back in dining chairs, their wrists bound.
Judge Thorne lay on the floor behind them, blood covering his shirt.
Julian stood beside the fireplace.
“Bring the box alone,” he said. “Any police within a mile, and you lose all three.”
The video ended.
Judge Thorne was still alive.
I had fifty-seven minutes.
Marcus called again.
“I’m sending coordinates.”
A message directed me to an abandoned train depot six miles from the cabin.
“Bring Dana,” he said. “No one else.”
We drove without speaking.
Marcus waited inside the depot beside an old luggage locker.
He looked exhausted.
Dana kept her weapon trained on him.
“Hands where I can see them.”
He raised both hands.
“The box is inside.”
“Open it,” she ordered.
He did.
The red music box sat inside a padded case.
Its painted bird had faded with age.
Marcus turned the tiny brass key.
Instead of music, a hidden compartment opened beneath the base.
Inside were three encrypted drives.
And a letter addressed to me.
I recognized Dad’s handwriting.
My dearest Elena,
If this reaches you, I failed to stop Crown without placing you in danger. Trust Marcus Bell. Distrust anyone who tells you trust must be absolute. Even Marcus does not know everything.
Dana read the line over my shoulder.
“Convenient,” she said.
Marcus reached into the locker.
She raised her weapon.
“Slowly.”
He removed a second letter.
This one was addressed to Dana.
She opened it.
Her face changed as she read.
“What does it say?” I asked.
She handed it to me.
Agent Ruiz, Paul Haines serves Reed. Marcus will suspect you because I instructed him to. You will suspect Marcus because I instructed you to. Only by keeping the investigation divided can Crown be prevented from controlling it entirely. When Elena brings you together, the final stage begins.
Dad had manipulated both of them from beyond the grave.
At the bottom was a map of the lake cabin.
It showed an underground storm tunnel leading from the shoreline into the basement.
Julian knew about the front road and surrounding forest.
He might not know about the tunnel.
“We can enter beneath the house,” Dana said.
Marcus examined the map.
“There’s another marking.”
A red X appeared beneath the master bedroom.
Beside it Dad had written:
THE ROOM JULIAN NEVER FOUND.
We had forty-one minutes.
The tactical team approached through the tunnel while I drove toward the main gate carrying the music box.
Julian called as I reached the property.
“Keep driving.”
“I have it.”
“Show me.”
I held the box toward the dashboard camera.
He laughed softly.
“Dad always loved you more.”
“This ends tonight.”
“No. Tonight you finally understand him.”
The cabin appeared beyond the trees.
Mom and Rachel were visible through the dining-room window.
Julian stood behind them holding a gun.
I stopped twenty yards from the porch.
“Get out,” he ordered through the phone.
I stepped from the car with the box in both hands.
“Walk toward the door.”
I obeyed.
Ten yards.
Eight.
Six.
Then the ground beneath the cabin shook.
The tactical team had breached the tunnel entrance.
Julian spun toward the sound.
Mom dropped sideways, pulling Rachel’s chair with her.
A shot shattered the front window.
I ran.
Agents surged from the basement.
Julian dragged Mom upright and pressed the gun against her head.
“Back away!”
Everyone froze.
Rachel’s hands were no longer tied.
She had cut through the restraints using a broken metal edge beneath the chair.
She lunged at Julian.
The gun fired.
Mom collapsed.
I heard myself scream.
Julian fled through the kitchen while agents pursued him.
I reached Mom.
Blood spread across her blouse.
Her eyes were open.
“Mom.”
She tried to speak.
“Stay with me.”
Her fingers closed around mine.
Then Rachel knelt beside us and tore open the blouse.
The bullet had not struck Mom.
Judge Thorne’s blood had soaked into her clothing when she fell beside him.
Mom was alive.
Across the cabin, agents shouted that Julian had entered the woods.
Then another voice came through the radio.
A boat engine had started near the dock.
Julian was escaping across the lake.
But he was not alone.
Someone else had been waiting in the boat.
May you like
Senator Reed.
And the real blue ledger was lying open on the passenger seat.
