Chapter 10 - THE EMPTY ROOMDelaney woke in a chair.
Her wrists were zip-tied.
Her head throbbed.
The room was concrete.
No windows.
No clock.
No obvious exit.
Across from her sat Vanessa.
Alive.
Blood on her sleeve.
“You're awake.”
Delaney stared.
“You were shot.”
“Bullet grazed me.”
“Where's Ronan?”
Vanessa looked away.
“They took him.”
“Who?”
“The old Quill.”
Delaney strained against the restraints.
“How long?”
“Three hours.”
“You let them take him?”
Vanessa's expression hardened.
“I tried to stop them.”
“What happened?”
“They already knew my plan.”
“Which means?”
“Someone betrayed us.”
Delaney stared at her.
“Another leak.”
Vanessa nodded.
“There is always another leak.”
She leaned forward.
“Your father's account is not just a bank account.”
“What is it?”
“A ledger.”
“Digital?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Paper.”
Delaney froze.
“Twenty-six million dollars were never deposited.”
“What?”
“They converted the money into physical assets.”
“Gold?”
“Land.”
“Where?”
Vanessa reached inside her jacket.
Pulled out a photograph.
A ranch.
Massive.
Fences.
Water tanks.
An old house.
“Your father bought this before he died.”
Delaney recognized it.
Her grandfather's property.
She had visited once as a child.
“I thought he sold it.”
“He never did.”
Vanessa whispered:
“It's where he buried the evidence.”
“And the account?”
“Underneath the ranch.”
Delaney looked up.
“Ronan knows where.”
Vanessa nodded.
“That is why they need him alive.”
A loud metallic sound came from the hallway.
Both women froze.
Someone was unlocking the door.
The door opened.
Mason entered.
Alive.
Delaney stared.
“You were shot.”
“Vest.”
“What happened to the others?”
“Dead.”
Mason locked the door.
“I have ten minutes.”
“How did you get here?”
“Quill thinks I'm dead.”
“Can you get us out?”
“Yes.”
“But?”
Mason looked at Delaney.
“Ronan isn't at the facility.”
“Where is he?”
“The ranch.”
Delaney stood.
“Then let's go.”
Mason shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the ranch is the trap.”
He handed Delaney a phone.
“One call.”
“To who?”
“Someone I promised your father I would protect.”
Delaney looked at the screen.
The contact name was simply:
DAD
She stared.
“That number belongs to my father.”
Mason nodded.
“Dial it.”
“That can't be possible.”
“He's been calling it once a month for twelve years.”
Delaney's hands trembled.
She pressed call.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Then someone answered.
A man's voice.
Old.
Tired.
Alive.
“Delaney?”
She stopped breathing.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then the voice said:
“Your brother is with me.”
Delaney's knees nearly gave way.
“You're alive.”
“I know.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because they're listening.”
She looked at Mason.
He nodded.
Her father continued.
“Listen carefully.”
“I'm listening.”
“Don't go to the ranch.”
“Why?”
“Because the ranch isn't where I hid the evidence.”
“Then where?”
A pause.
“Under the police station.”
The call went dead.
Delaney stared at Mason.
He looked horrified.
“What?”
Mason whispered:
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because the police station was built after your father died.”
Delaney looked at the phone.
Then at the door.
A slow realization settled over her.
Her father hadn't hidden the evidence twelve years ago.
He had hidden it recently.
May you like
Which meant...
her father had been alive the entire time.
