Chapter 7 - MY WIFE LEFT ME A TRAIL
The community center had been closed for eighteen months.
Boarded windows.
Rust on the doors.
A faded sign above the entrance.
June and I went in through the back.
“What are we looking for?” she asked.
“A blue bird.”
“There are birds painted everywhere.”
“Then we look at all of them.”
We moved quickly.
Classrooms.
Old offices.
A storage room filled with donated chairs.
Finally, in what had once been a children’s reading room, we found the same mural from the photo.
Blue bird.
Open book.
June touched the wall.
“So what now?”
I studied it.
Evelyn loved puzzles.
I hated them.
That had been our joke.
She once hid my anniversary gift behind six clues because she said I spent too much time ordering people around and needed practice thinking.
I closed my eyes.
What would she do?
Open book.
Blue bird.
Reading room.
I walked to the shelves.
Most were empty.
One still held a row of old children’s books.
June pulled one out.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Then I saw a title.
The Secret Garden.
Evelyn’s favorite book as a child.
I pulled it.
A click sounded.
June stared at me.
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
A section of the shelf loosened.
Behind it was a metal box.
Inside were paper ledgers.
Flash drives.
Bank statements.
Audio recorders.
And one envelope.
DANIEL.
My hands shook.
June noticed.
“You okay?”
“No.”
I opened it.
Evelyn’s handwriting.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, either I finally got you to listen or I failed.
Victor is stealing from the lowest-paid people in our companies. But he isn’t acting alone.
The money is feeding a private fund used for bribes, political favors, intimidation, and off-book operations.
Some of that may not surprise you.
This should:
Victor has been putting your name on approvals you never signed.
If this comes out, he plans to make you the criminal and himself the witness.
I stopped breathing.
June whispered, “Keep reading.”
I did.
I tried to tell you.
You were drowning in your own anger, and I was afraid you would attack the problem instead of understanding it.
So I kept digging.
That was my mistake.
If anything happens to me, do not trust Victor.
Do not trust Raymond.
I froze.
June frowned.
“Who’s Raymond?”
“My uncle.”
Raymond Blackwell.
My father’s younger brother.
Chairman of Blackwell Holdings.
The man who taught me how to run the company after my father died.
The closest thing I had to a second father.
I kept reading.
Raymond built Northstar.
Victor runs it.
There are people being hurt because of us, Daniel.
Not because you ordered it.
Because you allowed a world where men like them could do it and assume you would never ask questions.
If you still have any part of the man I married left in you, fix this.
Not for me.
For them.
My vision blurred.
The last line was smaller.
And if I am dead, please don’t waste what is left of your life trying to avenge me.
Choose something better.
I lowered the letter.
June said softly, “She knew.”
“Yes.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
“Yes.”
“And protect everyone else.”
I nodded.
For the first time in two years, I let myself cry.
No dramatic breakdown.
No shouting.
Just tears I couldn’t stop.
June looked away to give me privacy.
That kindness almost made it worse.
Then a floorboard creaked.
I stopped.
June heard it too.
Someone was inside.
I turned off the flashlight.
Footsteps in the hallway.
Slow.
More than one person.
I handed June the metal box.
“Back door.”
“What about you?”
“Go.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“June.”
“No.”
A voice came from the hall.
“Mr. Blackwell?”
Not Tomas.
Police.
Three officers entered with guns raised.
“Hands where we can see them!”
June lifted her hands.
I did the same.
One officer looked at the box.
“What’s that?”
“Evidence.”
He smiled.
“That’s funny.”
“Why?”
“Because we just got a report you broke into this building to destroy evidence.”
My stomach dropped.
“Reported by who?”
He stepped behind me and pulled my arms back.
“Victor Hale.”
The cuffs clicked around my wrists.
June shouted, “He’s lying!”
The officer took the metal box.
I lunged.
Two cops slammed me into the wall.
“Careful, Mr. Blackwell.”
Through the broken front window, I saw a black sedan across the street.
Victor sat in the back seat.
May you like
Watching.
And smiling.
