Chapter 5 - JULIAN'S SECOND PHONEI didn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the bathroom door.
The lock.
Julian's shadow.
“Just give it ten minutes.”
That sentence kept replaying inside my head.
By sunrise, Diana returned with a new file.
“We found something.”
I pushed myself upright.
“What?”
“A second phone.”
“Whose?”
“Julian's.”
My heart skipped.
“Where?”
“In the estate.”
“Didn't you seize all his devices?”
“We thought we did.”
Diana placed a photograph on the bed.
A black phone.
Small.
Almost identical to my emergency device.
“Where did you find it?”
“Inside the grandfather clock in the west library.”
I stared.
“Why hide a phone in a clock?”
“Because he didn't want anyone finding it.”
She unlocked it using forensic extraction tools.
There were only twelve messages.
The first was from Eleanor.
Is Audrey contained?
The response came from Julian.
Yes.
I felt something inside me collapse.
The next message:
And the baby?
Julian:
Not relevant yet.
I stopped breathing.
Diana watched my face.
“You don't have to read this.”
“Yes, I do.”
The messages continued.
The audit risk is higher than expected.
We need the files transferred tonight.
What about Audrey?
If she talks, everything falls apart.
I stared at the words.
Diana scrolled.
Then stopped.
One final message.
From an unknown number.
WHEN THE BABY IS BORN, MOVE TO PHASE TWO.
My hands went cold.
“What is Phase Two?”
“We don't know.”
“Then find out.”
Diana nodded.
There was another file.
An audio recording.
She pressed play.
Julian's voice filled the room.
“She's more dangerous than we thought.”
Eleanor answered.
“She knows?”
“Not everything.”
“Then keep her away from the files.”
“And if she refuses?”
A long silence.
Then Julian:
“Then we make sure nobody believes her.”
The recording ended.
I stared at Diana.
“They planned this.”
“Yes.”
“Before the wedding?”
“Probably much earlier.”
I looked at the phone.
“There's something missing.”
“What?”
“Julian wouldn't use the phone for everything.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he knows I'm an auditor.”
Diana nodded slowly.
“So there’s another layer.”
I remembered his habits.
His office.
The way he never left certain files unattended.
The way he carried one leather notebook everywhere.
A notebook I had seen only once.
“His ledger.”
Diana looked at me.
“What ledger?”
“He kept a black notebook.”
“Where?”
“In his study.”
“We searched the study.”
“Then search again.”
Two agents left.
Thirty minutes later, one returned.
Empty-handed.
“Nothing.”
I shook my head.
“Check the painting.”
“What painting?”
“The portrait above the fireplace.”
They returned twenty minutes later.
The painting was removed.
Behind it was a recessed wall compartment.
Inside:
One black notebook.
Two USB drives.
A photograph.
Diana opened the photograph.
I recognized the people.
Julian.
Eleanor.
Seraphina.
Marcus Vale.
And one additional man.
My breath caught.
I knew him.
Not personally.
Professionally.
He was a senior state official.
Someone whose name appeared on confidential investigation approvals.
Someone who had signed access orders for the very unit I worked in.
“That's Deputy Attorney General Richard Haines,” I whispered.
Diana's face went pale.
“No.”
“Yes.”
She stared at the photograph.
“That's impossible.”
“Apparently not.”
Diana opened the notebook.
The first page had one sentence.
If Audrey discovers the ledger, eliminate the witness before she reaches the prosecutors.
My stomach dropped.
“Diana…”
She turned the page.
And both of us froze.
May you like
There was another name written underneath.
Mine.
