Chapter 13 - RICHARD WITHOUT THE FAMILY
Richard had spent his entire life protected by systems other people built.
His father’s money.
His mother’s excuses.
Chief Nolan’s badge.
Eric Vance’s violence.
Samuel Price’s access.
One by one, those protections disappeared.
That made Richard more dangerous.
Not less.
Charles finally cooperated.
Not because he regretted anything.
Because he wanted to survive.
He described a private property in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
A hunting lodge purchased through an anonymous company.
Weapons were stored there.
Cash.
Fake identification.
Emergency vehicles.
Richard knew the codes.
So did Eric.
A federal team reached the lodge before dawn.
Empty.
But somebody had been there recently.
Food still warm.
A fire smoldering.
Two sleeping areas.
Richard and Eric were traveling together.
Jack studied the maps.
“If Vance controls the plan, they’ll leave the country.”
I disagreed.
“Eric wants the evidence.”
“Why?”
“Because he doesn’t know what Eleanor copied.”
“We have most of it.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
Lily entered the room.
“He also wants me.”
Nobody answered.
She looked directly at Jack.
“Richard isn’t running.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because running means losing.”
Her voice remained steady.
“And Richard cannot accept losing.”
She understood him better than any profiler.
“He’ll want me to come back.”
I hated hearing it.
“He’ll try to prove he still owns me.”
The words had barely left her mouth when her old email account received a message.
No subject.
One sentence.
YOU KNOW WHERE WE STARTED.
Lily looked at it.
“The charity ballroom.”
The place where Richard first approached her.
The Ashford Grand Hotel.
Jack ordered the building evacuated quietly.
Federal agents entered through service corridors.
Ruiz wanted Lily nowhere near it.
So did I.
Lily agreed.
That surprised everyone except me.
She was done reacting on Richard’s terms.
Agents searched the ballroom.
No Richard.
No Eric.
Only a projector.
At exactly 8:00 p.m., it turned on automatically.
Video filled the wall.
Richard appeared.
He looked exhausted.
Unshaven.
Angry.
“Hello, Lily.”
My daughter’s face did not change.
“You’ve always needed an audience.”
Richard smiled into the camera.
“You made private matters public.”
Then he blamed her.
For his father’s arrest.
For his family’s humiliation.
For the investigations.
For everything.
Abusers never lost their favorite weapon.
Responsibility.
Richard leaned closer to the camera.
“But I’m willing to forgive you.”
Lily actually laughed.
A small sound.
The first genuine laugh I had heard from her since Easter.
Richard continued.
“Come home.”
Lily whispered, “There it is.”
Then the video changed.
A live image appeared.
Chief Nolan sat tied to a chair.
Blood on his face.
I looked at Jack.
“This is live.”
Nolan moved.
Richard stepped into frame.
“You wanted witnesses.”
He placed a pistol against Nolan’s shoulder.
“Here’s one.”
Lily stood.
Richard looked directly into the camera.
“Ask your father about Mason Creek.”
My stomach dropped.
Jack turned toward me.
“What about Mason Creek?”
I knew exactly what Richard meant.
Mason Creek was the last operation I worked before retirement.
The operation where three members of my team died.
And the operation where Eric Vance supposedly saved me.
May you like
Richard smiled.
“Your father never told you why he really quit.”
