Chapter 11 - THE DEAD MAN'S PHONEMason drove without headlights.
Delaney sat beside him.
Vanessa and Tyler were in the back.
Nobody spoke.
The phone remained on the dashboard.
Her father's number was still displayed.
“Call him again,” Delaney said.
“No.”
“Why?”
“He wanted you to hear that once.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if the call was traced.”
Delaney looked at Mason.
“You think my father is working with them.”
“No.”
“Then?”
“He's running from them too.”
The police station appeared ahead.
They parked two blocks away.
Mason led them through an alley.
A side entrance was unlocked.
Inside, the building was dark.
They descended into the basement.
Old records.
Evidence lockers.
Retired equipment.
Mason counted doors.
“Seven.”
He stopped at the seventh.
“Your father said under the station.”
Delaney noticed a concrete wall.
Freshly repaired.
She touched it.
“This wasn't here originally.”
Mason pulled out a crowbar.
They broke the wall.
Behind it was a steel box.
Delaney opened it.
Inside:
Photographs.
Documents.
A laptop.
And one video cassette.
Mason looked at it.
“That's old.”
Delaney picked up the laptop.
It booted instantly.
One file.
FOR DELANEY
She opened it.
Her father's face appeared.
Older.
His hair gray.
He was sitting in a dark room.
“I know you're watching this.”
Delaney covered her mouth.
“I am sorry.”
His eyes were wet.
“I couldn't contact you.”
“Why?”
“Because the people I trusted were compromised.”
He took a breath.
“I discovered the Quill organization had expanded into federal agencies.”
He named names.
Three.
Then five.
Then nine.
Delaney recognized several.
All people she had worked with.
Her father continued.
“The man you call the Auditor isn't the leader.”
Delaney froze.
“The Auditor is a title.”
Mason leaned toward the screen.
“Then who is at the top?”
Her father looked directly into the camera.
“Someone you would never suspect.”
The screen went black.
A second file opened automatically.
It showed a bank vault.
Inside were stacks of documents.
Then the camera moved.
Revealing Ronan.
Alive.
Tied to a chair.
Delaney screamed.
A voice entered the frame.
Not Quill.
Not Graham.
Not Vanessa.
A woman's voice.
“You should have listened.”
Delaney froze.
The camera turned.
The woman stepped into view.
Delaney knew her instantly.
The female officer from the roadside stop.
The one who had asked Quill:
“Everything good?”
Her badge read:
Lena Mercer.
But the face underneath the badge was no longer neutral.
She smiled at the camera.
“Hello, Delaney.”
The video ended.
Mason swore.
“She's been inside every operation.”
Vanessa looked terrified.
“She was Daniel's assistant.”
Delaney turned.
“What?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Before I joined the Bureau.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought she was dead.”
Delaney stared at the screen.
The phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
Lena's voice came through.
“You found the tape.”
“Where is my brother?”
“Still alive.”
“What do you want?”
“The account key.”
“I don't have it.”
“You do.”
“How?”
“Your father's blood runs through you.”
Delaney frowned.
Lena laughed.
“You really don't know.”
“Know what?”
Silence.
Then Lena said:
“Your father didn't leave the account to Ronan.”
She whispered:
“He left it to you.”
The call ended.
Delaney stared at Mason.
“What does she mean?”
Mason's expression had changed.
He looked at the laptop.
Then at Delaney.
May you like
And whispered:
“Your DNA.”
