Chapter 7 - THE SIXTY MILLION
Julian laughed because the alternative was screaming.
“My father stole sixty million dollars?”
Rachel shook her head.
“Not for himself.”
“That sounds convenient.”
“Charles found out Adrian and Victor were laundering money through Hale shipments.”
“So?”
“He intercepted one container.”
“Why?”
“To force them into the open.”
Martha frowned.
“You never told me this.”
Rachel looked at her.
“Thomas made me swear.”
Julian stared.
“My father took their money.”
“Yes.”
“Where did he put it?”
“Nobody knew.”
“And they killed him looking for it.”
Rachel nodded.
Julian thought about Bianca.
Three years together.
Vacations.
Birthdays.
Nights talking until sunrise.
Every moment suddenly felt contaminated.
“She wasn’t after the trust,” he said.
Martha understood.
“The money.”
“Sixty million dollars.”
Rachel wiped her eyes.
“That was eighteen years ago.”
“With investments, it could be much more now.”
Julian looked toward the smoking mansion.
“Bianca didn’t accidentally meet me.”
“No,” Rachel whispered.
Julian felt stupid.
He remembered meeting Bianca at a charity gala in New York.
She had spilled champagne on his jacket.
Laughed.
Apologized.
Asked him to dance.
He had called it fate.
It had been reconnaissance.
Martha placed a hand on his arm.
“Julian.”
He pulled away gently.
“I need air.”
He walked toward the damaged rose garden.
His phone rang.
Bianca.
He answered.
“Where are you?”
“In jail.”
“Then why are you calling?”
“My attorney got me access.”
“You burned my house.”
“No.”
“Adrian did.”
“Yes.”
“Same difference.”
Bianca sighed.
“You still think Adrian and I are on the same side.”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.”
Julian stopped.
“You kidnapped Rachel together.”
“I borrowed Adrian’s people.”
“Borrowed?”
“Don’t act morally offended now.”
“My mother almost died.”
“I didn’t put her in the pool.”
Julian froze.
“What?”
“Martha fell.”
“You pushed her hands away.”
“Yes.”
“That’s attempted murder.”
“I was angry.”
“You threatened to kill her.”
“I wanted information.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“What information?”
“The location of the money.”
“So that’s what this is.”
“You think I care about your mansion?”
“You were going to marry me for it.”
“I was going to marry you because you’re the only person who can unlock what your father left behind.”
Julian frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Ask Martha about your twenty-fifth birthday.”
Julian’s heart changed rhythm.
“Why?”
“Ask her.”
The line disconnected.
Julian returned to Martha.
“What happened on my twenty-fifth birthday?”
Martha’s expression changed.
“Who told you to ask?”
“Bianca.”
Martha looked away.
“Mom.”
“Your father left a letter.”
Julian stared.
“What letter?”
“One that was supposed to be given to you when you turned twenty-five.”
“Where is it?”
“I destroyed it.”
Julian’s voice rose.
“You what?”
“I had to.”
“What did it say?”
Martha looked toward Rachel.
Rachel shook her head.
“Martha.”
Julian stepped closer.
“What did the letter say?”
His mother whispered:
“Charles said the money belonged to people who had been robbed by Adrian’s network.”
“And?”
“He wanted you to find it.”
Julian’s throat tightened.
“He left instructions?”
“Yes.”
“What instructions?”
“A phrase.”
“What phrase?”
Martha looked at him.
“Where the river remembers.”
Julian frowned.
“That’s it?”
“No.”
She continued.
“Where the river remembers, the lion sleeps beneath the stone.”
Julian stared.
He knew those words.
His father used to take him camping near the Hudson River.
There was an abandoned Hale family lodge there.
A stone lion stood beside the old dock.
Julian whispered:
“The lodge.”
Martha nodded.
They drove north before sunrise.
The lodge had been empty for twelve years.
Julian found the stone lion near the river.
He pushed against it.
Nothing.
Rachel examined the base.
“There.”
A small metal latch.
Julian opened it.
Inside was a waterproof box.
His hands shook as he lifted the lid.
There was no money.
Only an old cassette tape.
And a note in Charles Hale’s handwriting.
JULIAN, IF YOU ARE HEARING THIS, I AM DEAD.
He looked at Martha.
She covered her mouth.
Julian inserted the tape into an old player inside the lodge.
His father’s voice filled the room.
“Son, if they found me, the betrayal came from someone close.”
Static crackled.
Then Charles continued.
May you like
“Do not trust Thomas Pierce.”
Rachel stopped breathing.
