Chapter 10 - THE MAN I TRUSTED
I had trusted James Avery for nine years.
He had written my promotion recommendation.
He had visited Noah after his tonsil surgery.
He had sat beside me at my husband’s funeral three years earlier and stayed after everyone else left.
And now Robert Haines was telling me Avery had taken money from my father.
“No.”
Robert wiped blood from his lip.
“I saw the transfers.”
“You saw a name.”
“I saw Avery.”
“When?”
“Twice.”
“Where?”
“Your father’s office.”
I wanted to reject it.
Instead, I did what training had taught me.
I separated what I wanted to believe from what I could prove.
“Did Avery know about the fraud?”
Robert closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
My phone rang.
Avery.
I stared at the screen.
Agent Ortiz saw the name.
“Answer.”
I did.
“Sir.”
“Claire, thank God.”
His voice sounded concerned.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“I heard Walter took hostages.”
“Where did you hear that?”
Silence.
Small.
Almost nothing.
But it was there.
“Federal liaison called me.”
“Which liaison?”
Avery hesitated.
Ortiz’s eyes narrowed.
Then he said, “Claire, this isn’t a secure line.”
“No, sir.”
“Where are you?”
“At Silver Basin.”
“And the drive?”
There it was.
Not Noah.
Not me.
The drive.
“I don’t have it.”
Avery exhaled.
“Listen to me carefully. Do not give anything to DCIS until we speak.”
My hand tightened.
“Why?”
“There are national security issues involved.”
“Eleven million dollars?”
Another silence.
Then Avery’s voice hardened.
“You don’t understand what you stumbled into.”
“What did I stumble into?”
“Come back to Colorado. I can protect you.”
From what?
Or from whom?
I looked at Robert.
He slowly shook his head.
“No,” I said.
Avery became quiet.
Then he said, “Claire, I am ordering you.”
“I’m on emergency leave, sir.”
“I am still your superior officer.”
“And I’m still not giving you evidence.”
His breathing changed.
For the first time in nine years, I heard the man behind the rank.
Cold.
Controlled.
“Your father warned me you were stubborn.”
The words landed like a grenade.
Ortiz immediately signaled Bell.
Avery realized what he had said.
Too late.
“Sir?”
He hung up.
Agent Ortiz took my phone.
“From now on, assume Avery is compromised.”
I felt sick.
Walter had poisoned more of my life than I understood.
My parents.
My finances.
My career.
Maybe my reputation.
Ortiz’s phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Then looked at me.
“State police lost your father.”
“How?”
“He drove into the old mining roads east of the highway.”
“My mother?”
“Still with him.”
I didn’t know whether I wanted her saved.
But I knew Walter armed and desperate was dangerous.
Then my phone received a text.
Not from Dad.
From Mom.
Three words.
HE’LL TAKE NOAH.
I showed Ortiz.
She immediately called hospital security.
Nobody answered.
Bell tried another number.
Nothing.
My pulse exploded.
Then my phone rang.
Hospital.
I answered.
“Ms. Bennett?”
“Yes?”
The nurse sounded terrified.
“There was an incident.”
I could barely speak.
“Where is my son?”
Silence.
“WHERE IS NOAH?”
“Someone wearing federal credentials removed him from protective custody ten minutes ago.”
My knees almost failed.
“Who?”
May you like
The nurse swallowed.
“He identified himself as Colonel James Avery.”
