Chapter 10 - THE VOICE ON THE RECORDING
I listened to the recording three times.
Each time, I felt sicker.
My voice was unmistakable.
“Handle it.”
Victor said, “How far do you want me to go?”
My voice answered, “I don’t care. I want this problem gone.”
Then the recording ended.
June stared at me.
“Is that you?”
“Yes.”
Raymond looked down.
“You remember now?”
I didn’t.
Then something surfaced.
A board dinner.
Evelyn furious.
Victor telling me a whistleblower was threatening a hotel project.
I had been drunk.
Angry.
Exhausted.
“Who was I talking about?”
Raymond said nothing.
I grabbed his jacket.
“Who?”
“Not Evelyn.”
June looked at him.
“Then who?”
“An inspector.”
My grip loosened.
Raymond continued.
“Victor edited the audio.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I was there.”
“Can you prove it?”
“The original meeting recording may exist.”
“Where?”
“Victor keeps archives.”
“Of everything?”
Raymond nodded.
“He records people. Insurance.”
I laughed without humor.
“Of course he does.”
Police sirens grew louder outside.
Aaron came over.
“We need to move.”
“Why?”
“Because Brennan’s coming.”
Raymond’s face tightened.
“How do you know?”
“I have access to dispatch.”
June stared.
“Is anybody in this city normal?”
“No,” I said.
We got the children into Aaron’s car.
June climbed in with them.
I stopped her.
“Go to the hospital. See your mom.”
“What are you doing?”
“Ending this.”
“No.”
“June.”
“Every time you say that name like a command, I like you less.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
Then she stepped closer.
“You don’t get to turn this into revenge.”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Yes, it is.”
“You heard the recording.”
“And your wife’s letter said not to avenge her.”
I stared at her.
“She also told you to fix it.”
The words landed exactly where they needed to.
June got into the car.
Before the door closed, she said, “Fix it, Mr. Blackwell. Don’t just kill the man who broke it.”
Aaron drove away.
I stayed with Raymond.
“You’re coming with me.”
“Where?”
“Victor’s office.”
“You think he’ll be there?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because he thinks I’m stupid enough to chase him.”
Raymond frowned.
“So?”
“So I’m going after what he values more.”
His records.
We drove downtown.
Blackwell Tower rose over the river in glass and steel.
The building had my name on it.
For the first time, I hated seeing it.
We entered through the executive garage.
My access card failed.
Raymond’s worked.
“Victor locked you out,” he said.
“Nice touch.”
Upstairs, the executive floor was almost empty.
Victor’s office door was locked.
Raymond entered a code.
Wrong.
Again.
Wrong.
“He changed it.”
I pulled a brass sculpture from the hallway table and smashed the glass panel.
Raymond stared.
“You’re paying for that.”
“I own the building.”
“That attitude is how we got here.”
Fair.
Inside, Victor’s office looked untouched.
Desk.
Books.
Art.
No obvious safe.
I searched the walls.
Raymond checked drawers.
Then I saw a framed photograph.
Victor and me at age twenty-two.
Standing outside our first warehouse.
I picked it up.
Behind it was a biometric panel.
“Always sentimental,” I said.
Raymond placed his thumb.
Rejected.
I tried mine.
Accepted.
The wall opened.
Raymond looked impressed.
“He still trusts your fingerprint?”
“No.”
Inside were drives.
Files.
Passports.
Cash.
And recordings.
Hundreds of them.
Aaron connected remotely.
“Grab everything.”
I started loading files into a bag.
Then one folder caught my eye.
EVELYN.
Inside were photographs of her car.
Repair invoices.
Messages.
A surveillance schedule.
And an audio file.
I played it.
Victor’s voice.
“Tomas, loosen the steering linkage. Enough to scare her. Don’t make it permanent.”
Then Tomas.
“What if it fails?”
Victor replied.
“Then it fails.”
My entire body went cold.
Raymond sat down.
“Oh, God.”
I kept listening.
Another voice entered.
Detective Brennan.
“If there’s a crash, I can control the first report.”
There it was.
Not an accident.
Not exactly murder planned on paper.
Something worse in its cowardice.
A risk they were willing to take because Evelyn’s life mattered less than their secrets.
I copied the file.
Then all the building lights went out.
Emergency red lamps turned on.
Raymond whispered, “He knows we’re here.”
The elevator dinged.
Once.
Then again.
Footsteps entered the hallway.
Victor’s voice came through the darkness.
“Daniel.”
I drew my gun.
He laughed.
“You finally found the truth.”
May you like
Then he added:
“Now let’s see whether you’re willing to survive it.”
