Chapter 7 - THE WAREHOUSE
Richard Cole wore a charcoal suit.
Perfect tie.
Polished shoes.
Like he was walking into a board meeting instead of standing beside a kidnapped man.
Two men stood behind him.
Neither looked like lawyers.
“Untie Jason,” I said.
Richard smiled.
“You’ve always been emotional, Mark.”
“And you’ve always been a parasite.”
His smile faded.
Jason struggled against the ropes.
“Mark, he knows about the police.”
My heart skipped.
Richard looked directly at my jacket.
“Take off the wire.”
I didn’t move.
One of the men stepped forward.
Richard raised a hand.
“No need.”
He pulled out a small electronic device.
A signal detector.
Damn.
“You disappoint me,” he said.
Then sirens screamed outside.
Richard’s expression changed.
Police flooded the warehouse.
“Hands!”
“Show me your hands!”
One of Richard’s men ran.
The other reached inside his jacket.
Bad decision.
Officers tackled him before he could pull whatever he was reaching for.
Richard simply raised his hands.
Calm.
Almost amused.
“You have nothing,” he told Park as she approached.
“We have kidnapping.”
“Jason came voluntarily.”
Jason shouted from the chair.
“You broke my ribs!”
Richard shrugged.
“Prove who did it.”
Park arrested him anyway.
But while officers searched the warehouse, Jason grabbed my sleeve.
“There’s something you need to know.”
“What?”
“Your father knew.”
I stared at him.
“Knew what?”
“About Richard.”
“My father died four years ago.”
“I know.”
Jason swallowed painfully.
“Before he died, he discovered Richard had been moving money through client trusts.”
“How?”
“He was using dormant accounts.”
I looked toward Richard.
“He tried Lily’s trust?”
Jason nodded.
“Your father caught him.”
“Then why wasn’t Richard arrested?”
“Because he threatened the family.”
“With what?”
Jason looked toward Taylor, who had arrived with another officer.
“With evidence that Taylor’s father had committed tax fraud.”
Taylor stopped.
“My father?”
Jason nodded.
“Mom protected Dad’s reputation.”
“So she helped Richard?”
“At first, she just kept quiet.”
“And later?”
Jason’s eyes filled with shame.
“Later she needed money.”
Evelyn’s lifestyle had always been expensive.
Country clubs.
Luxury cars.
Vacations.
After her husband died, the money slowly disappeared.
Richard offered her a solution.
Lily’s trust.
All they needed was control.
“And the freezer?” I asked.
Jason looked away.
“That was Mom.”
My fists tightened.
“Richard told her to create evidence that your home was unsafe.”
“So she locked Lily inside?”
“He told her to stage an accident.”
“But Evelyn turned it into punishment.”
Jason nodded.
“She liked having control.”
That sentence made my skin crawl.
Park walked over carrying an evidence box.
“We found files.”
“What files?”
“Guardianship documents. Financial transfers. Copies of your family schedules.”
Then she held up a small digital recorder.
“And this.”
Richard’s face changed.
For the first time since police arrived, he looked genuinely nervous.
Jason saw it too.
“He thought I destroyed that.”
“What’s on it?”
Jason looked directly at Richard.
May you like
“Everything.”
And Richard suddenly lunged toward the evidence box.
