Chapter 14 - THE VOICE OF A DEAD MAN
Victor and Marcus reached Isabella through the west tunnel.
Ethan was coughing but conscious.
They carried him outside.
Fire crews surrounded the mansion.
Lily remained near the burning east wing.
Victor saw her moving toward a side entrance.
He grabbed her arm.
“Where are you going?”
“My father’s recordings are below the nursery.”
“The floor is collapsing.”
“They prove everything.”
“You will not go back inside.”
Lily looked at the flames.
“My father died trying to expose them.”
“I will not let his voice disappear too.”
Victor took a breathing mask from a firefighter.
“Then you are not going alone.”
They entered through the servants’ staircase.
Smoke filled the corridor.
Heat rolled across the ceiling.
Lily counted the doors.
“Three more.”
They reached a narrow storage room beneath the nursery.
Lily pushed aside an old cabinet.
Behind it was a small metal safe.
She entered her father’s birthday.
The lock clicked.
Inside were twelve cassette tapes and a digital drive.
Victor grabbed the box.
The ceiling cracked above them.
“Move!”
They ran toward the stairs.
A burning beam collapsed behind them.
Victor pushed Lily through the doorway seconds before the room disappeared beneath fire.
Outside, Marcus connected the digital drive to a secure laptop.
The first recording opened.
Thomas Ross’s voice filled the command vehicle.
“My name is Thomas Ross.”
“If this recording is found, Charles Montigue and Anthony Blackwood have discovered that I copied their accounts.”
Victor stared at the screen.
His father’s voice followed.
“You should have taken the money, Thomas.”
Then Evelyn spoke.
“He has a daughter.”
“Use her.”
Lily covered her mouth.
The recording continued.
Thomas refused to surrender the evidence.
There was a struggle.
Then Charles Montigue said something that changed everything.
“Crane will dispose of him.”
Lily looked at Victor.
“Jonathan Crane killed my father.”
Marcus checked the remaining files.
“There are names.”
“Hundreds of them.”
“Payments.”
“Routes.”
“Judges.”
“Politicians.”
Victor looked toward the burning mansion.
“Send copies to every federal agency.”
Isabella stepped closer.
“Can we trust them?”
“No.”
Victor took out his phone.
“So send them to every major newspaper too.”
Marcus uploaded the files.
Across Chicago, reporters began receiving the evidence.
Police officers arrested Mercer.
Serena was placed in a secured vehicle.
But Evelyn was still missing.
Then Lily’s phone rang.
The number was blocked.
She answered.
Jonathan Crane’s voice came through.
“I have Evelyn.”
Victor took the phone.
“Where?”
Crane laughed nervously.
“You want her?”
“Bring me the drive.”
Lily looked at Victor.
Crane continued.
“And come to Pier Nineteen alone.”
“If I see police, Evelyn dies.”
Victor’s expression remained unreadable.
Crane lowered his voice.
“There is one more thing.”
“Evelyn did not order Ethan’s kidnapping.”
“She was trying to stop it.”
Victor looked toward Serena’s transport vehicle.
The rear door stood open.
May you like
The guard lay unconscious on the ground.
Serena was gone.
