Chapter 5 - THE BACKUP
There was no second copy.
Not yet.
Ethan had lied.
And Raymond had believed him.
That was all Ethan needed.
At 2:17 a.m., Ethan sat in an interrogation room with his wrists cuffed to a steel table.
Captain Sloan entered carrying coffee.
“No lawyer?”
“My lawyer’s coming.”
“You said that an hour ago.”
“He enjoys making corrupt cops wait.”
Sloan set down the coffee.
“You’re funny.”
“No. I’m tired.”
“You assaulted Logan Mercer.”
“Yes.”
Sloan blinked.
“Just admitting it?”
“I used reasonable force to stop an ongoing threat to my daughter.”
“You launched him through a table.”
“It was a poorly placed table.”
Sloan stared at him.
Ethan stared back.
“You think you’re untouchable because of your company?”
“No.”
“Because of your government contracts?”
“No.”
“Military friends?”
“No.”
“Then why are you so calm?”
Ethan leaned back.
“Because Raymond is panicking.”
Sloan’s jaw shifted.
Tiny movement.
But Ethan saw it.
“You keep saying Mercer’s name.”
“Because every time I do, you react.”
“I’m done.”
Sloan stood.
Ethan smiled.
“Tell Raymond the backup isn’t on a server.”
Sloan stopped.
“Excuse me?”
“I said tell Raymond the backup isn’t on a server.”
Sloan slowly turned.
“Why would I tell him anything?”
“Exactly.”
The door opened.
A woman in a charcoal suit entered.
“Captain Sloan, get out.”
Sloan frowned.
“Who are you?”
She held up credentials.
“Special Agent Claire Bennett. Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Ethan smiled.
“My lawyer.”
Claire glared at him.
“I am not your lawyer.”
“Close enough.”
Sloan looked between them.
“This is local jurisdiction.”
Claire handed him a paper.
“Not anymore.”
Sloan read it.
His face tightened.
“You can’t do this.”
“I just did.”
Ten minutes later, Ethan walked out of the precinct.
Grace was waiting.
She ran into him.
He wrapped both arms around her.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For not coming sooner.”
“You came.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
Grace squeezed him harder.
Claire stood nearby.
“You two can have the emotional reunion after we move.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Still charming.”
“Still reckless.”
Marcus opened the SUV door.
They drove to a secure office downtown.
Dana was already there.
Grace’s phone sat inside a forensic workstation.
Claire entered the room.
“Tell me you got something useful.”
Dana turned the monitor.
“I got everything.”
The cloud backup had captured forty-seven minutes.
Not just Logan threatening Grace.
Not just Raymond’s voice.
Earlier audio showed Logan and Tyler arguing.
Tyler was terrified.
Logan was furious.
Then came a sentence that changed the case.
Tyler’s voice:
“The payments are still coming from the same account your dad used when Laura Cole died.”
Claire froze the audio.
“What account?”
Dana clicked another file.
Grace had taken a photograph before Logan noticed her phone.
A spreadsheet.
Dozens of names.
Payments.
Dates.
Codes.
Ethan leaned toward the screen.
One date jumped out.
April 14.
Eleven years ago.
Two days before Laura died.
Payment: $250,000.
Recipient: R. SLOAN.
Grace whispered, “The captain?”
Claire nodded.
Ethan kept reading.
Another payment.
Same week.
Recipient: M. VANCE.
Marcus went silent.
Ethan looked at him.
“What?”
Marcus stared at the name.
“Michael Vance.”
“You know him?”
Marcus swallowed.
“He was on your security team eleven years ago.”
Ethan’s blood went cold.
Marcus continued.
“And he was the first person at Laura’s crash.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Dana’s computer chimed.
A new file had just appeared in Grace’s recovered cloud storage.
Uploaded automatically eleven years earlier.
A video.
Timestamped the night before Laura died.
Ethan clicked play.
Laura appeared on screen.
Alive.
Terrified.
May you like
And the first words out of her mouth were:
“Ethan, someone inside your team is working for Raymond Mercer.”
