Chapter 5 - MARTHA’S SECRET
Julian waited until the police left.
Then he locked the library door.
Martha stood near the fireplace.
Rachel sat on the couch holding an ice pack against her cheek.
Julian placed both hands on the desk.
“Where is the ledger?”
Martha said nothing.
“Mom.”
“It isn’t that simple.”
“That answer stopped working eighteen years ago.”
Rachel looked at Martha.
“Tell him.”
Julian turned.
“You know too?”
Rachel lowered her eyes.
“Part of it.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“Fantastic.”
He looked at both women.
“My father was murdered.”
Silence.
“Bianca’s father was involved.”
Silence.
“Adrian Cole is still alive.”
Silence.
“And apparently everyone in this house knew more than I did.”
Martha’s eyes filled.
“We were trying to protect you.”
“Stop saying that.”
Julian slammed his hand on the desk.
“You don’t protect someone by making them stupid.”
Martha flinched.
Julian immediately regretted shouting.
But he didn’t apologize.
“Where is it?”
Martha slowly sat.
“The ledger contains names.”
“What names?”
“Politicians. Bankers. Contractors.”
Julian frowned.
“What did my father discover?”
“Hale Industries wasn’t the real target.”
“What was?”
“The company’s shipping network.”
Julian’s stomach tightened.
Hale Industries had once transported industrial equipment internationally.
“Money laundering?”
“And weapons.”
Rachel whispered the last word.
Julian stared at her.
“What?”
“Illegal shipments,” Martha said. “Your father discovered forged cargo manifests.”
Julian felt sick.
“How long?”
“Years.”
“And Adrian ran it?”
“With Victor Laurent.”
“What was Dad doing?”
“Gathering evidence.”
Julian paced.
“Why didn’t he go to federal authorities?”
“He planned to.”
“The night he died?”
Martha nodded.
Julian stopped.
“What happened to the ledger?”
“Your father gave it to Thomas Pierce.”
Rachel began crying quietly.
“My husband.”
Julian looked at her.
“Thomas had it?”
“For one night.”
“What happened?”
“He came home terrified.”
Rachel wiped her eyes.
“He told me Charles was dead.”
“What did he do with the ledger?”
“He gave it to Martha.”
Julian turned.
“You had it.”
Martha nodded.
“For eighteen years?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
She looked toward the bookshelf.
Julian followed her gaze.
Martha walked to an old first-edition dictionary.
She pulled it out.
The book was hollow.
Inside was a brass key.
Julian stared at it.
“That’s it?”
“No.”
Martha placed the key in his hand.
“Your father owned a safe deposit box under another name.”
“What name?”
“Henry Vale.”
“Where?”
“Boston.”
Julian looked at the key.
“And the ledger is there?”
“I don’t know.”
He stared at her.
“You just said—”
“I put it there eighteen years ago.”
“You haven’t checked?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because two weeks after your father died, someone broke into our old house.”
Julian remembered that night.
He had been twenty-three.
Police cars.
Broken windows.
His mother telling him it was a random burglary.
“They were looking for the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“I was afraid they’d kill you too.”
Julian looked at the key again.
Rachel spoke softly.
“Thomas wanted to go public.”
“What stopped him?”
Martha closed her eyes.
“He died.”
Julian looked at Rachel.
“The construction accident.”
Rachel’s face twisted.
“It wasn’t an accident.”
Julian said nothing.
Rachel began shaking.
“Thomas was found at the bottom of an elevator shaft.”
“God.”
“The police said he slipped.”
“But?”
“He had called me twenty minutes earlier.”
Rachel looked directly at Julian.
“He said Adrian Cole had found him.”
Julian’s phone buzzed.
Everyone froze.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Adrian’s voice filled the room.
“You should tell Martha not to keep old keys in obvious places.”
Julian’s eyes snapped toward the window.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
Julian looked down.
His hand was empty.
The brass key was gone.
He spun toward the library door.
Still locked.
Then Rachel screamed.
May you like
Smoke was pouring beneath it.
The mansion was on fire.
