Richard went to the hospital under police guard.<\/p>\n
Brenda went into custody.<\/p>\n
Sloane escaped through a roof access point before officers sealed the warehouse.<\/p>\n
Two of his men were arrested.<\/p>\n
Neither carried identification.<\/p>\n
By midnight, Alvarez and I were sitting in a hospital waiting room while Daniel paced near the windows.<\/p>\n
He had driven down after I forwarded Peter's message.<\/p>\n
"He asked for Chloe specifically?" Alvarez said.<\/p>\n
Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n
"Exact wording?"<\/p>\n
Daniel handed her his phone.<\/p>\n
Peter's message was short.<\/p>\n
You have something I want. I have something she wants. Bring Chloe and we can end what Michael started.<\/p>\n
Alvarez read it twice.<\/p>\n
"That's not an offer. That's bait."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"Then nobody goes."<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n
I already knew what he expected.<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Alvarez frowned.<\/p>\n
"No what?"<\/p>\n
"I'm not sitting here while Peter chooses the board."<\/p>\n
"You're also not delivering yourself to him."<\/p>\n
"I didn't say I would."<\/p>\n
"You were thinking it loudly."<\/p>\n
Daniel almost smiled.<\/p>\n
I ignored him.<\/p>\n
"Why does Peter want me?"<\/p>\n
Alvarez said, "Evidence."<\/p>\n
"He could demand the notebook."<\/p>\n
"He may assume you have copies."<\/p>\n
"Then taking me doesn't solve that."<\/p>\n
Richard's hospital-room door opened.<\/p>\n
A nurse stepped out.<\/p>\n
"He's asking for his sister."<\/p>\n
I entered alone.<\/p>\n
Richard looked terrible.<\/p>\n
Bruised ribs.<\/p>\n
Concussion.<\/p>\n
Dehydration.<\/p>\n
But awake.<\/p>\n
"You look awful," I said.<\/p>\n
"You always were supportive."<\/p>\n
I sat.<\/p>\n
"Peter has Dad's tape."<\/p>\n
His humor vanished.<\/p>\n
"How?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"What does he want?"<\/p>\n
"Me."<\/p>\n
Richard closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Useful insight."<\/p>\n
"Chloe."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
He opened his eyes.<\/p>\n
"Because you're the only person who can authenticate Dad's notebook."<\/p>\n
"Anyone can authenticate handwriting."<\/p>\n
"Not what I mean."<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
Richard shifted carefully.<\/p>\n
"Some entries are coded."<\/p>\n
"I noticed."<\/p>\n
"Peter can't decode them."<\/p>\n
"Can you?"<\/p>\n
"Some."<\/p>\n
"Why me?"<\/p>\n
"Dad used family references."<\/p>\n
I thought of the bank phrase.<\/p>\n
Do the work.<\/p>\n
Childhood addresses.<\/p>\n
Birthdays.<\/p>\n
Private jokes.<\/p>\n
The notebook wasn't only evidence.<\/p>\n
It was encrypted through memory.<\/p>\n
"Peter needs the full ledger interpretation."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Why now?"<\/p>\n
"Because Titan failed."<\/p>\n
Richard's voice weakened.<\/p>\n
"Once Sterling suspended the deal, Peter lost his clean path."<\/p>\n
"So he needs to know what evidence survived."<\/p>\n
"And who has it."<\/p>\n
I leaned back.<\/p>\n
"Then he won't kill me immediately."<\/p>\n
Richard stared.<\/p>\n
"Please don't say things like that."<\/p>\n
"Am I wrong?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Then useful."<\/p>\n
"You're enjoying this too much."<\/p>\n
"I'm really not."<\/p>\n
The door opened.<\/p>\n
Daniel entered.<\/p>\n
Richard's expression hardened.<\/p>\n
"I didn't invite him."<\/p>\n
"I did," I said.<\/p>\n
"You trust him now?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Daniel closed the door.<\/p>\n
"Comforting."<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
"Tell Richard about Peter's message."<\/p>\n
Daniel did.<\/p>\n
Richard listened.<\/p>\n
Then asked, "What aren't you telling her?"<\/p>\n
Daniel went still.<\/p>\n
Interesting.<\/p>\n
"What do you mean?" he asked.<\/p>\n
"You always hold something back."<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n
I folded my arms.<\/p>\n
"Apparently it's noticeable."<\/p>\n
He sighed.<\/p>\n
"There is something."<\/p>\n
"Of course."<\/p>\n
"Peter called after the message."<\/p>\n
"Why didn't you tell me?"<\/p>\n
"Because I wanted to verify something first."<\/p>\n
"Stop managing information around me."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"Do you?"<\/p>\n
Daniel sat.<\/p>\n
"Peter mentioned Emily Carter."<\/p>\n
Richard frowned.<\/p>\n
"The girl from the crash."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"What did he say?"<\/p>\n
Daniel's face changed.<\/p>\n
"He said she wasn't the only person who died because of that night."<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
"Who else?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"Did you ask?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"What did he say?"<\/p>\n
"Ask James."<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
"Your father."<\/p>\n
Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n
Richard looked between us.<\/p>\n
"Then ask him."<\/p>\n
"I did."<\/p>\n
"And?"<\/p>\n
Daniel rubbed his jaw.<\/p>\n
"He refused to answer over the phone."<\/p>\n
I laughed without humor.<\/p>\n
"Family trait."<\/p>\n
Daniel ignored it.<\/p>\n
"He said he'd come here."<\/p>\n
"When?"<\/p>\n
"Twenty minutes."<\/p>\n
I looked at Richard.<\/p>\n
"Anything you know?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Did Dad mention Emily?"<\/p>\n
"Only that Daniel wasn't driving."<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at him.<\/p>\n
"You knew?"<\/p>\n
"Eleven years."<\/p>\n
Daniel's jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
"Everyone knew except me."<\/p>\n
"Welcome to the family."<\/p>\n
That silenced the room.<\/p>\n
Richard immediately looked ashamed.<\/p>\n
"Sorry."<\/p>\n
Daniel shook his head.<\/p>\n
"Don't be."<\/p>\n
James Sterling arrived twenty-six minutes later.<\/p>\n
He looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
He entered Richard's room, saw him, and stopped.<\/p>\n
"Richard Bennett."<\/p>\n
"You remember me."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"You let my father die."<\/p>\n
The sentence hit immediately.<\/p>\n
James's face tightened.<\/p>\n
"I failed him."<\/p>\n
"That's the polite version."<\/p>\n
"Richard," I said.<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
He looked at James.<\/p>\n
"I delivered Michael's evidence to you. You promised you'd act."<\/p>\n
James nodded.<\/p>\n
"I remember."<\/p>\n
"You gave the tape back."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"You let Victor destroy my family."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
No defense.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
Perhaps guilt eventually exhausted excuses.<\/p>\n
Daniel stepped forward.<\/p>\n
"Peter said Emily wasn't the only death connected to the crash."<\/p>\n
James looked at him.<\/p>\n
"Sit down."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Daniel."<\/p>\n
"Tell me."<\/p>\n
James's eyes moved toward me.<\/p>\n
Then Richard.<\/p>\n
Then back to his son.<\/p>\n
"There was another passenger."<\/p>\n
Daniel frowned.<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"I remember everyone in that car."<\/p>\n
"You remember everyone when you left the party."<\/p>\n
Daniel's face changed.<\/p>\n
"What does that mean?"<\/p>\n
James took a breath.<\/p>\n
"The car stopped afterward."<\/p>\n
"Where?"<\/p>\n
"A service station."<\/p>\n
Daniel stared.<\/p>\n
"Peter picked someone up."<\/p>\n
"Who?"<\/p>\n
James swallowed.<\/p>\n
"Samuel Price."<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n
Dad's security contractor.<\/p>\n
Richard sat straighter despite pain.<\/p>\n
"Price was in the crash?"<\/p>\n
"No," James said. "He got out before it."<\/p>\n
Daniel looked confused.<\/p>\n
"Then what does he have to do with Emily?"<\/p>\n
James's answer came slowly.<\/p>\n
"Price supplied the alcohol."<\/p>\n
Daniel almost laughed.<\/p>\n
"That's it?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
James closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
"He also supplied pills."<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Daniel's face emptied.<\/p>\n
"What pills?"<\/p>\n
"Sedatives."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"Peter had been using them recreationally."<\/p>\n
Daniel shook his head.<\/p>\n
"I didn't take anything."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"Emily?"<\/p>\n
James hesitated.<\/p>\n
"Her toxicology showed traces."<\/p>\n
Daniel stepped backward.<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Daniel\u2014"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"You didn't know."<\/p>\n
"Did Peter?"<\/p>\n
James didn't answer.<\/p>\n
That was enough.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked sick.<\/p>\n
"Emily wasn't just killed in a drunk-driving accident."<\/p>\n
James spoke quietly.<\/p>\n
"Peter had drugged her earlier that evening."<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"She was threatening to report him."<\/p>\n
"For what?"<\/p>\n
James looked toward Richard.<\/p>\n
"Financial fraud."<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
Even then.<\/p>\n
Peter had already been inside his father's network.<\/p>\n
Emily Carter had discovered something.<\/p>\n
"She worked for Halcyon?" I asked.<\/p>\n
"Interned with one of their portfolio companies."<\/p>\n
"And found transactions."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
Daniel sat down.<\/p>\n
His hands shook.<\/p>\n
"Peter told me she wanted a ride home."<\/p>\n
James nodded.<\/p>\n
"She did."<\/p>\n
"Then he drove."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"And crashed."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Then made it look like me."<\/p>\n
James's voice broke slightly.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
Daniel stared at the floor.<\/p>\n
Eleven years of hidden guilt had been built around a crime he hadn't committed.<\/p>\n
But he had been there.<\/p>\n
He had been drinking.<\/p>\n
He had trusted Peter.<\/p>\n
Those truths would still hurt.<\/p>\n
James continued.<\/p>\n
"Price helped move evidence afterward."<\/p>\n
"How?"<\/p>\n
"Peter called him."<\/p>\n
"So Price wasn't merely Dad's surveillance contractor."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"He cleaned problems."<\/p>\n
James nodded.<\/p>\n
Richard whispered, "That's why Dad was afraid of him."<\/p>\n
Everything connected through the same man.<\/p>\n
Emily.<\/p>\n
Dad.<\/p>\n
Coleman.<\/p>\n
Victor.<\/p>\n
Peter.<\/p>\n
"Is Price alive?" I asked.<\/p>\n
James looked at me.<\/p>\n
"I believe so."<\/p>\n
"Where?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"Who does?"<\/p>\n
James hesitated.<\/p>\n
"Brenda."<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
"How?"<\/p>\n
"She handled Price's contractor records after Michael died."<\/p>\n
Brenda, sitting in custody less than a mile away.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n
"We need to talk to her."<\/p>\n
Alvarez appeared in the doorway.<\/p>\n
"I heard enough."<\/p>\n
She had apparently been listening from outside.<\/p>\n
"Nobody talks to Lawson without counsel and recording."<\/p>\n
"Fine."<\/p>\n
Her phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
She checked it.<\/p>\n
Then frowned.<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
Alvarez looked at me.<\/p>\n
"Brenda isn't in custody anymore."<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
"What do you mean?"<\/p>\n
"She was being transferred."<\/p>\n
"Transferred where?"<\/p>\n
"County interview facility."<\/p>\n
"And?"<\/p>\n
"The transport never arrived."<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
"Where is the vehicle?"<\/p>\n
"Found abandoned."<\/p>\n
"Officers?"<\/p>\n
"Alive. Sedated."<\/p>\n
Richard swore.<\/p>\n
"Price."<\/p>\n
Alvarez nodded grimly.<\/p>\n
"Possibly."<\/p>\n
My phone rang.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at it.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
"Hello?"<\/p>\n
A man's voice.<\/p>\n
Older.<\/p>\n
Calm.<\/p>\n
"Chloe Bennett."<\/p>\n
I knew immediately.<\/p>\n
Not because I had heard him before.<\/p>\n
Because everyone else had been speaking around him for days.<\/p>\n
"Samuel Price."<\/p>\n
A quiet chuckle.<\/p>\n
"Your father said you were quick."<\/p>\n
My skin went cold.<\/p>\n
"Where is Brenda?"<\/p>\n
"Safe enough."<\/p>\n
"What do you want?"<\/p>\n
"To correct a misunderstanding."<\/p>\n
"Which one?"<\/p>\n
"Peter Vale doesn't have Michael's recording."<\/p>\n
I looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n
"Then who does?"<\/p>\n
Price answered.<\/p>\n
"I do."<\/p>\n
Richard went to the hospital under police guard. Brenda went into custody. Sloane escaped through a roof access point before officers sealed the warehouse. Two of his men were arrested. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28441"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28540,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28441\/revisions\/28540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}