Chapter 6 - THE TRUTH ABOUT VANESSA HALEVanessa refused to meet at any federal building.
They met in a crowded diner outside Waco.
She arrived alone.
No security detail.
No government vehicle.
No official badge.
Delaney sat across from her.
“You lied to me.”
Vanessa didn't defend herself.
“Yes.”
“You knew about my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Project Echo.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Ronan was being targeted.”
“Yes.”
Delaney's voice hardened.
“And you let me drive straight into Cedar Ridge.”
Vanessa looked down.
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“Not when they have your son.”
Silence.
Vanessa took a folded photograph from her purse.
A teenage boy.
Fourteen years old.
Standing beside a soccer field.
Delaney recognized him.
“He disappeared last year.”
Vanessa nodded.
“They took him.”
“Who?”
“Raven.”
Delaney stared.
Vanessa continued.
“I spent six years trying to dismantle Project Echo from inside.”
“What happened?”
“They discovered I had copied financial records.”
“So they took your son.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you go to the FBI?”
“I did.”
Delaney's eyes narrowed.
“They were already inside.”
Vanessa's voice broke.
“Half the team investigating Raven was being paid by Raven.”
That explained everything.
The leaks.
The warnings.
The impossible timing.
Quill hadn't simply stumbled onto Delaney.
Someone had been feeding him information.
Vanessa leaned forward.
“Your father discovered the same thing.”
“What exactly did he know?”
“Enough to scare them.”
“How did he die?”
Vanessa looked away.
“The official report says heart failure.”
“And?”
“He was poisoned.”
Delaney went still.
“My father was murdered.”
“Yes.”
“By Raven?”
“By someone working for them.”
“Who?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Your father's final evidence never reached us.”
“Where is it?”
“Ronan has part of it.”
“Why?”
“Because your father planned for this.”
Delaney stared.
“Ronan was thirteen when Dad died.”
“He gave him something without telling him what it was.”
“What?”
“A password.”
“To the account?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Ronan memorized it.”
“And now Raven wants it.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Vanessa reached across the table.
“Before I tell you, you need to understand something.”
Delaney waited.
“The person controlling Raven isn't Quill.”
“Then who?”
Vanessa looked at the window.
A black SUV passed outside.
Her expression changed.
“They call him the Auditor.”
“Who is that?”
“He doesn't steal the money.”
She lowered her voice.
“He decides who disappears.”
Delaney felt a chill.
“Do you know his name?”
Vanessa nodded.
“You do too.”
“Who?”
Vanessa looked directly at her.
“Your father's closest friend.”
Delaney's mind raced through old memories.
Family dinners.
Holiday parties.
Sunday lunches.
There was only one person who fit.
Her father's longtime business partner.
Graham Voss.
Her uncle.
Delaney almost laughed.
“No.”
Vanessa watched her.
“Graham was with your father the night he died.”
“That doesn't prove anything.”
“He was also the last person to access the account.”
Delaney stood.
“Where is my brother?”
Vanessa slid a piece of paper across the table.
An address.
“A farmhouse outside Huntsville.”
“Who has him?”
Vanessa looked at her.
“The man protecting him.”
“Who?”
Vanessa's answer stunned her.
“Mason.”
Delaney shook her head.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
“How?”
“Because Mason betrayed Quill.”
“Why?”
Vanessa's eyes filled with fear.
“Because Quill killed Mason's daughter.”
The diner suddenly seemed too quiet.
Delaney looked toward the window.
The black SUV had returned.
It was parked across the street.
Vanessa saw it too.
She stood.
“Go.”
“What about you?”
“They know I'm here.”
The windows behind Vanessa shattered.
Gunfire erupted.
Delaney dropped to the floor.
Vanessa screamed.
The lights went out.
When Delaney looked up again...
Vanessa was gone.
Only blood remained on the booth.
And beneath the table was a phone.
May you like
Its screen displayed one message.
FIND MASON BEFORE WE FIND RONAN.
