Chapter 9 - The Room With No Windows
I wanted to kill Martin.
I've never been more certain of anything.
Luis held me back.
“If you shoot him, we lose Chloe.”
Martin smiled.
“You see? That's why you're still alive.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
I stepped closer.
“Where?”
“Somewhere your money can't reach.”
“You think I can't find her?”
“I know you can't.”
Evelyn grabbed my shoulder.
“Don't play his game.”
Martin looked at her.
“You should be dead.”
“So should you.”
He laughed.
“You people never learn.”
He backed toward the door.
“You have until dawn.”
“For what?”
“To bring the ledger.”
“You already know what's inside.”
“I need the original.”
“Why?”
“Because your father didn't just record transactions.”
Martin pointed at one page.
“He recorded names.”
I understood.
The ledger wasn't evidence.
It was leverage.
Whoever controlled it controlled everyone.
Martin turned.
Before he left, he said:
“Oh, and one more thing.”
He looked back at me.
“Teresa isn't the person who betrayed you.”
Then he disappeared into the warehouse.
I looked at Evelyn.
“What did he mean?”
She didn't answer.
Luis did.
“He means your wife was trying to protect you.”
“From whom?”
Luis stared at the ledger.
“From the government.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Boss, the investigation into your company started years ago.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
He opened a file.
Federal subpoenas.
Sealed indictments.
Witness protection documents.
My name appeared repeatedly.
But so did Teresa's.
And Chloe's.
I looked at Evelyn.
“What are these?”
“Orders.”
“From whom?”
She hesitated.
“Federal investigators.”
My stomach twisted.
“You've been working for them?”
“No.”
“Then why do you have these?”
“Because your father did.”
That made no sense.
Then Luis found another page.
A witness list.
One name had been circled.
Teresa Bennett.
The date beside it was twenty years ago.
I looked toward Evelyn.
“She was a witness?”
“Yes.”
“To what?”
“To your father's murder.”
I turned cold.
“Teresa saw it?”
Evelyn nodded.
“She saw Daniel shoot him.”
I stared at her.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because my father died in a highway accident.”
“No.”
My hands began shaking.
“Teresa told investigators your father was killed.”
“For twenty years she let me believe it was an accident.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
“By lying to me?”
“She thought if you knew, you'd go after Daniel.”
I looked down.
A realization hit me.
The clothes.
The bags.
The passport.
The documents.
Teresa hadn't been preparing me to disappear.
She had been preparing my identity to disappear.
That meant there was only one person in the house who knew exactly what she was doing.
I called home.
No answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
Then Chloe's phone connected.
For one second, I heard breathing.
My daughter's voice whispered,
“Dad?”
“Chloe!”
A man's voice came onto the line.
Daniel.
“You have the ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Where is she?”
“At home.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She's always been at home.”
The call ended.
I stared at my phone.
Luis looked at me.
Then we both heard the same sound through the receiver.
May you like
A door opening.
Inside my house.
