Chapter 11 - THOMAS WELLER
Ethan ignored the last instruction.
He did not arrive with uniformed police.
But Detective Ramirez knew exactly where he was.
So did Marcus.
The address led to a small cabin overlooking the Atlantic.
Thomas Weller opened the door before Ethan knocked.
He was seventy-eight.
Thin.
White-haired.
But unmistakable.
“I wondered how long it would take.”
Ethan stared at him.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
Thomas stepped aside.
“I let Victor believe it.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“No.”
Thomas closed the door.
“It doesn’t.”
Inside, filing boxes covered an entire wall.
Thomas poured coffee.
Ethan did not touch it.
Thomas noticed.
“I heard about the tea.”
“Then you understand.”
Thomas nodded.
“I do.”
Ethan remained standing.
“Start with my father.”
Thomas looked toward the ocean.
“Jonathan discovered Victor, Margaret, and several executives were stealing from overseas subsidiaries.”
“He planned to remove them.”
“Why didn’t he?”
“Because Margaret reached him first.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Did you know she changed his medication?”
“Not until after his death.”
“Then why hide?”
“Because Jonathan left me instructions.”
Thomas opened a safe.
Inside were sealed files.
“He believed something might happen to him.”
“He told me that if he died unexpectedly, I was to protect Amelia and any child you had.”
“You failed.”
Thomas absorbed the words.
“Yes.”
Ethan had expected an excuse.
None came.
Thomas continued.
“I sent Claire to move Lily.”
“Nora was supposed to hide her for forty-eight hours.”
“Before I could retrieve her, Victor’s men attacked me.”
He lifted his shirt slightly.
A long scar crossed his side.
“I survived.”
“Then why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because Victor had someone inside your security team.”
Ethan froze.
“Who?”
“I never learned.”
Thomas handed him a file.
“Every time I tried to contact you, Victor reacted within hours.”
“So I disappeared.”
“For seven years?”
“I spent those years building a case strong enough that he couldn’t bury it.”
Ethan opened the file.
There were bank records.
Photographs.
Signed statements.
Internal memos.
Then he found something unexpected.
A letter from Jonathan Blackwood.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
ETHAN,
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, THEN I WAS RIGHT TO BE AFRAID.
WE BUILT BLACKWOOD GROUP TO SUPPORT OUR FAMILY.
NEVER ALLOW OUR FAMILY TO BECOME SOMETHING SACRIFICED TO SUPPORT BLACKWOOD GROUP.
THE COMPANY IS PROPERTY.
PEOPLE ARE NOT.
Ethan stopped.
Those words struck deeper than any legal document.
Thomas said quietly, “Your father knew what Victor had forgotten.”
Ethan folded the letter carefully.
“Who was inside my security team?”
Thomas looked troubled.
“There’s one possibility.”
“Who?”
“Marcus Reed.”
Ethan stared at him.
“No.”
“I said possibility.”
“Marcus saved Amelia.”
“I know.”
“He arrested Victor.”
“I know.”
“He has protected Lily.”
Thomas nodded.
“And he worked for Victor before he worked for you.”
Ethan’s phone vibrated.
A message from Amelia.
COME HOME.
SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH LILY.
Ethan’s blood ran cold.
He called immediately.
No answer.
He called Marcus.
No answer.
Then he called the manor security desk.
A guard answered.
“Mr. Blackwood?”
“Where is my daughter?”
Silence.
“Where is Lily?”
The guard’s voice shook.
“We can’t find her.”
Ethan turned toward Thomas.
The old attorney went pale.
Then Ethan received another message.
Unknown number.
A photograph.
Lily sitting in the back seat of a car.
Beside her was Marcus Reed.
May you like
Under the photograph were four words.
YOU TRUST TOO EASILY, ETHAN.
