Chapter 8 - THE DEAD MAN’S SECRET
Victor Hale was lying near the garden wall.
One bullet through the chest.
One through the throat.
Professional shots.
Julian stood several feet away.
“Eleanor didn’t do this.”
Hayes looked at him.
“She was in custody when the shots were fired.”
“So someone else is involved.”
“Looks that way.”
Lily sat inside an ambulance wrapped in a blanket.
Julian watched her through the open doors.
She looked impossibly small.
Hayes handed the drive to a technician.
“How long?”
“Encryption like this? Could be hours.”
Julian shook his head.
“Thomas used layered key pairs. You need his physical token.”
Hayes looked at him.
“Where?”
Julian’s expression darkened.
“Thomas.”
They returned inside.
Firefighters had controlled the flames.
The hidden office was damaged, but much survived.
Thomas Reed lay on the floor.
Alive.
Barely.
Julian rushed to him.
“Thomas.”
Thomas opened his eyes.
“You… made it.”
“So did you.”
“Not for long.”
“Don’t talk.”
Thomas grabbed Julian’s sleeve.
“Inside pocket.”
Julian searched his jacket.
A small brass key.
“Safe deposit box?”
Thomas nodded.
“Union Bank. Alexandria. Box 417.”
“What’s inside?”
“Your father’s confession.”
Julian froze.
“My father’s what?”
Thomas coughed.
“He knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That Eleanor would kill him.”
Julian stared.
Thomas whispered, “He recorded everything.”
Medics arrived.
As they lifted Thomas onto a stretcher, he grabbed Julian one last time.
“Don’t trust Hayes.”
Julian’s blood went cold.
Thomas was carried away.
Julian slowly turned.
Agent Nora Hayes stood twenty feet away, talking to a technician.
Don’t trust Hayes.
Why?
Hayes approached.
“What did he say?”
Julian forced his face blank.
“Nothing.”
She studied him.
“You sure?”
“He could barely breathe.”
Hayes nodded.
Then Lily called out.
“Daddy!”
Julian turned.
She was holding something.
A photograph.
“Where did you get that?”
“It fell out of Grandma’s purse.”
Julian took it.
The photo was twenty years old.
It showed Eleanor.
Victor.
Thomas.
And Nora Hayes.
All four standing together at a Vance Foundation charity event.
Julian looked up.
May you like
Hayes was watching him.
And her hand was resting on her holster.
