Chapter 10 - THE MAN IN THE WAREHOUSE
Victor did not storm the warehouse with an army.
He called Detective Reed.
That surprised Marcus.
“It needs to end clean.”
Victor said.
“No bodies we have to explain.”
“No revenge?”
Victor looked at him.
“My son needs a father more than my anger needs a funeral.”
Reed assembled a tactical unit.
Victor insisted on going.
She argued.
He ignored her.
Inside the warehouse they found Everett Crane tied to a chair.
Alive.
Barely.
Hale was gone.
But Crane had kept something hidden for years.
A metal box.
Inside were Anna’s original brake components.
And a recording.
Crane’s hands trembled when he spoke.
“Hale paid me to replace them after the crash.”
Victor stared.
“So you knew.”
“I knew somebody sabotaged her car.”
“And you said nothing.”
“He threatened my daughter.”
Victor’s anger flared.
Crane looked at him.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
“I’m asking you to listen.”
The recording contained Hale’s voice.
Clear.
Calm.
“Anna has become inconvenient.”
Then Dr. Kessler.
“And the baby?”
Hale answered.
“If Grace survives, the trust remains complicated.”
Victor stopped the recording.
Nobody moved.
Lily, waiting at the hospital with Ethan, received Victor’s call.
She could hear something in his breathing.
“You found it.”
“Yes.”
“Anna?”
“Yes.”
“Grace?”
Victor couldn’t answer immediately.
Lily closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Victor looked around the warehouse.
“I spent years believing bad luck destroyed my family.”
He swallowed.
“It was people.”
Reed found more evidence on Crane’s recording device.
Locations.
Payments.
Names.
And one scheduled transfer happening the following morning.
Twenty-eight million dollars.
Recipient:
Hale Strategic Foundation.
Source:
Ethan Blackwood Family Trust.
Victor stared at it.
“How can he move Ethan’s money?”
Marcus looked through the paperwork.
“He can’t.”
“Unless?”
Marcus went quiet.
“Unless he has legal guardianship authorization.”
Victor’s blood ran cold.
“That requires my signature.”
Reed studied the transfer.
“It says you signed yesterday.”
“I was at the hospital.”
Marcus zoomed in.
The signature looked perfect.
Lily’s warning returned to Victor.
Someone had been copying his identity for years.
Then Reed’s phone rang.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She listened.
“When?”
She ended the call.
Victor stepped closer.
“What happened?”
“Hale isn’t running.”
“Then where is he?”
Reed looked directly at him.
“He just walked into Chicago Central Police Headquarters with three attorneys.”
Victor stared.
“And?”
“He’s accusing you of attempted murder, financial fraud, kidnapping Serena Montigue…”
May you like
She paused.
“…and the murder of your wife.”
