Chapter 8 - THE FALSE TRADE
Nathan called the federal prosecutor.
The hospital placed Victoria under immediate protective custody.
The man dressed as a nurse was gone before security arrived.
But surveillance cameras captured his face.
Grace identified him within seconds.
Martin Vale.
The same man who had threatened her five years earlier.
For the first time, investigators had a current image.
Nathan used Charles’s demand to create a trap.
He sent one message.
YOU WANT THE LEDGER.
I WANT GRACE AND LILY LEFT ALONE.
Charles responded.
MIDNIGHT.
OLD UNION STATION FREIGHT YARD.
COME ALONE.
Nathan showed Daniel.
Daniel shook his head.
“You are not going alone.”
“Of course not.”
Grace stared at him.
“You’re going?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Nathan looked at her.
“We need Charles to believe the ledger is moving.”
Grace crossed her arms.
“And the federal agents cannot use someone else?”
“He asked for me.”
“He wants me emotional.”
“He wants me predictable.”
Grace raised an eyebrow.
“And are you?”
Nathan looked at her.
“No.”
Grace almost smiled.
“That was a test.”
“I know.”
The actual ledger went into federal evidence.
Nathan carried a duplicate prepared by investigators.
A tracking device was hidden inside its spine.
Agents positioned teams around the freight yard.
At eleven fifty-eight, Nathan walked between rusting rail cars beneath cold industrial lights.
He carried the black leather book in one hand.
A black sedan waited near an abandoned loading platform.
Martin Vale stepped out.
Nathan recognized him from the hotel footage.
Martin smiled.
“Mr. Cole.”
Nathan stopped twenty feet away.
“Where’s Charles?”
“You don’t negotiate with Mr. Whitmore.”
Nathan held up the ledger.
“He seems to think I do.”
Martin’s smile disappeared.
“Set it on the ground.”
Nathan obeyed.
“Kick it over.”
Nathan kicked the book.
It slid across the pavement.
Martin picked it up.
He opened several pages.
Then he looked at Nathan.
“You think this is enough to save them?”
Nathan said nothing.
Martin took out a lighter.
Nathan frowned.
Martin ignited the ledger.
Flames spread across the pages.
Nathan did not react.
That seemed to bother Martin.
“You don’t care?”
“It’s a copy.”
Martin’s expression changed.
Federal vehicles surged from both ends of the yard.
Agents shouted.
Martin ran.
Nathan stepped aside.
Martin disappeared between rail cars.
Agents followed.
A shot cracked in the distance.
Nathan dropped behind a concrete barrier.
More shouting.
Then silence.
An agent approached Nathan.
“Stay here.”
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
Finally the lead investigator returned.
“He escaped through a storm tunnel.”
Nathan stared toward the darkness.
“Was he hit?”
“No.”
Nathan looked at the burning fake ledger.
“Then Charles knows.”
The agent nodded.
“He knows the real evidence is protected.”
Nathan’s phone rang.
Charles.
Nathan answered.
“You always were ambitious.”
Nathan stood.
“You’re running out of people.”
Charles laughed.
“Am I?”
Nathan’s expression hardened.
Charles continued.
“You think Martin Vale is loyal to me?”
“You think Victoria is loyal to me?”
“You think Grace is loyal to you?”
Nathan said nothing.
Charles lowered his voice.
“Ask Grace what she received three months before entering your home.”
The call ended.
Nathan returned to the safe location shortly after one in the morning.
Grace was awake.
Lily slept beside her.
Nathan closed the door.
Grace immediately saw his expression.
“What happened?”
“Martin escaped.”
She nodded slowly.
“And?”
Nathan hated the question he needed to ask.
“What did you receive three months before you started working for me?”
Grace stopped moving.
Nathan knew Charles had told the truth about something.
Grace looked toward Lily.
Then back at Nathan.
“A letter.”
“What letter?”
“From your father.”
Nathan stared at her.
“My father has been dead five years.”
“I know.”
“Then explain.”
Grace stood.
“It arrived without a return address.”
“What did it say?”
Grace walked to her overnight bag.
She pulled out a folded envelope.
Nathan stared at Robert Cole’s handwriting.
Grace handed it to him.
Inside was one page.
Grace.
If you are reading this, then Charles survived the first consequences of what we uncovered.
You must return to Nathan.
Do not tell him immediately.
Watch Victoria.
Find the room beneath the west staircase.
There is something there Nathan will need before he can fight back.
Trust no one carrying my name unless they can answer this question.
What did Michael save first?
Nathan looked up.
“What did your father save first?”
Grace shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Nathan reread the letter.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t know whether it was real.”
“And you took a job in my house because of it.”
“Yes.”
Nathan felt betrayed despite understanding why.
Grace continued.
“I needed work anyway.”
“I thought if the room existed, I would know the letter was genuine.”
“Did you find it?”
“No.”
Nathan frowned.
“West staircase.”
The estate had two staircases.
The main staircase.
And a west service staircase.
Nathan immediately called the protection detail.
Two agents accompanied them back to the estate.
At three in the morning, Nathan and Grace stood beneath the west staircase.
They searched the paneling.
Nothing.
Grace remembered the hidden shelf in Robert’s office.
She ran her fingers along the molding.
A small wooden section shifted.
A door opened.
Inside was a space no bigger than a closet.
On the floor sat an old metal case.
Nathan opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Contracts.
Audio tapes.
And one sealed envelope.
NATHAN.
Nathan tore it open.
The letter inside was from his father.
Son.
If Grace Bennett has returned, then Charles failed to frighten her permanently.
That means you are finally ready to know what I did.
Nathan read the next paragraph.
His face went white.
Grace stepped closer.
“What?”
Nathan handed her the letter.
She read the sentence.
I did not merely investigate Charles Whitmore.
May you like
For seven years, I helped him.
*
