Chapter 8 - The WitnessJulian pushed Meredith behind the bed.
Their father crawled toward a hidden compartment.
“Dad!”
“Stay down!”
He pulled out a small metal case.
Inside was a stack of photographs.
Meredith stared.
The images showed politicians.
Corporate executives.
Judges.
Police chiefs.
And Genevieve’s father.
Frank Vance.
In several photographs, he stood beside the same senator.
The senator who had been murdered twenty-five years earlier.
Julian grabbed the photographs.
“What am I looking at?”
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“The senator had discovered an offshore network.”
His father looked toward the door.
“He was going to expose them.”
“Who?”
“A group called The Meridian.”
Meredith had never heard the name.
Her father continued.
“They controlled money, elections, contracts, and information.”
Julian shook his head.
“That sounds impossible.”
“It sounded impossible to me too.”
His father handed him another photograph.
It showed Frank Vance shaking hands with a man.
Julian stared.
“That’s Richard.”
“Yes.”
“Uncle Richard was part of Meridian?”
“Not originally.”
His father sighed.
“He tried to expose them.”
Meredith looked at him.
“Then why did he lie?”
“Because they threatened his family.”
Julian’s face darkened.
“Us?”
“Yes.”
Footsteps approached the room.
His father whispered:
“There is a tunnel beneath the house.”
Meredith looked at the floor.
“How do we open it?”
He pointed toward the fireplace.
“Third brick.”
Julian found it.
The wall opened.
They hurried inside.
As they descended, a gunshot echoed through the bedroom.
Their father closed the entrance.
They moved through the narrow tunnel.
Finally they reached a hidden chamber beneath the property.
Inside were computers.
Documents.
Hard drives.
And hundreds of sealed evidence boxes.
Meredith looked around.
“How long have you been here?”
“Three years.”
“Alone?”
“No.”
She turned.
“Who else?”
A voice answered from the darkness.
“Me.”
Genevieve stepped into the light.
Meredith froze.
Julian’s hand went to his weapon.
Genevieve raised both hands.
“I’m not here to fight.”
Julian laughed.
“You broke into a hidden bunker after trying to destroy us.”
“I’m here because they are trying to kill me too.”
Meredith stared.
“Why should we believe you?”
Genevieve swallowed.
“Because my father is alive.”
Everyone froze.
Her father stared at her.
“Frank?”
Genevieve nodded.
“He was the witness.”
Meredith stepped closer.
“Where is he?”
Genevieve looked at Julian.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
Genevieve hesitated.
Then she whispered:
“Underneath your engagement venue.”
Julian’s eyes widened.
“That building was empty.”
“No.”
Genevieve’s voice broke.
May you like
“It was never an engagement venue.”
“It was a prison.”
