Chapter 9 - The Woman in the PhotographThe woman looked about thirty.
Dark hair.
Pale skin.
A small scar near her chin.
She was standing beside Harold as though they knew each other well.
I couldn't stop staring.
“Who is she?”
Nathan looked at Marcus.
Then at me.
“Her name is Evelyn Hart.”
“Why would Harold protect her?”
“Because she knew the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That Richard Vale had another child.”
Marcus went still.
“Another child?”
Nathan nodded.
“And that child disappeared twenty years ago.”
Lauren whispered:
“Because Richard ordered it.”
Marcus turned toward her.
“You knew?”
She didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“Lauren.”
She looked at me.
“I knew pieces.”
“Tell me everything.”
“I can't.”
“You just accused Harold of hiding the records.”
“He did.”
“Then why would he protect Evelyn?”
Lauren’s lips trembled.
“Because Evelyn was supposed to testify.”
“Against Richard?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She disappeared.”
Nathan interrupted.
“She didn't disappear.”
We all turned.
“She escaped.”
“To where?”
“I don't know.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“Then why does Harold have this?”
Nathan said:
“Because he helped her.”
A strange silence settled over the room.
“Harold helped her escape?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The summer before he died.”
I felt my chest tighten.
That summer Harold had spent several weekends away.
He told me he was fishing with an old friend.
He had lied.
I remembered something.
The phone calls.
The late-night drives.
The way he'd suddenly become protective of his briefcase.
I thought it was work stress.
It wasn't.
“Did he know Marcus was Richard's son before he helped Evelyn?”
Nathan nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he tell me?”
“Because Evelyn was carrying something.”
“What?”
Nathan hesitated.
“A ledger.”
“What kind of ledger?”
“A list of financial transfers.”
“Richard’s?”
“Yes.”
“Why is that important?”
“Because the transfers connected politicians, lawyers, developers, and judges.”
I felt dizzy.
“So this is bigger than the house.”
“Much bigger.”
Marcus stared at Nathan.
“Why didn't you expose Richard?”
Nathan looked at him.
“Because men like Richard don't disappear when you expose them.”
“What happens?”
“They replace the person who exposed them.”
A car engine growled outside.
Nathan looked toward the windows.
“We need to leave.”
Lauren suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“No.”
“What?”
“You can't leave.”
“Why?”
“Because they already know where we are.”
“Who?”
She whispered:
“Everyone.”
The house lights flickered.
Then all the windows shattered at once.
Marcus screamed.
Nathan pulled us to the floor.
Something hit the wall.
A bullet.
Then another.
The shooting continued for seconds that felt like minutes.
When it stopped, there was silence.
Nathan looked around.
“Is everyone alive?”
I checked Marcus.
Lauren.
Nathan.
Everyone was there.
Then I heard a soft sound from behind me.
A phone ringing.
Not mine.
Not Marcus's.
Not Lauren's.
Nathan's.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
The caller ID showed:
HAROLD WELLS
I stared.
“That's impossible.”
Harold had been dead for four years.
Nathan answered.
No one spoke.
Then a man's voice came through.
“Tell Patricia she has forty-eight hours.”
Nathan's face turned white.
“Who is this?”
The voice laughed.
“You already know.”
Nathan hung up.
I stared at him.
“Who was it?”
May you like
He looked at me.
“Harold.”
