Chapter 8 - the letter in the safe
The tactical team entered through the front and rear doors simultaneously.
Elias waited beside Captain Mercer’s vehicle with Lily wrapped in his jacket. Every instinct told him to follow the officers inside, but he stayed because Lily refused to release his hand.
Major Sloan monitored the team through her radio.
“Foyer clear.”
“Kitchen clear.”
“Basement secured. Multiple inventory cases present.”
“Movement on second floor.”
Elias looked at the dark windows.
A beam of light passed behind the curtains.
Then an officer called, “One female located.”
“Identity?”
“Simone Vale. She’s hiding in the upstairs bathroom.”
Simone was brought outside three minutes later.
Her expensive dress was wet at the hem, and one side of her face was streaked with mascara. She raised both hands as officers guided her toward Mercer.
“I didn’t know what they were doing,” she said immediately.
Mercer did not respond.
“I only watched the street.”
“That means you knew enough to watch for police,” Elias said.
Simone looked at Lily and lowered her eyes.
“Where is Claire?” Elias asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Rusk?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try again.”
Simone began to cry.
“Vanessa said the equipment belonged to the foundation. She said the transfers were legal.”
“Then why did you run?”
“Because Rusk came back.”
“What did he want?”
“The letter.”
Elias felt the key in his hand.
“What do you know about it?”
“Nothing. Only that Marlene told him it was still in the safe.”
Major Sloan approached.
“How did Marlene know?”
Simone looked toward the police vehicle where Marlene was being questioned.
“She found it years ago.”
Elias stared at his mother-in-law through the rain.
“She opened my safe?”
“She said she copied the letter but couldn’t decode it.”
“It was a letter, not a cipher.”
Simone shook her head.
“No. There was something hidden inside.”
An officer emerged from the house.
“Residence clear. Ruth and Vanessa are not inside. Garage vehicle missing.”
“Basement exit?” Sloan asked.
“Open. They may have left through the rear alley before the perimeter closed.”
Sloan ordered immediate alerts for both women.
Elias handed Lily to Mercer.
“Stay with her.”
Lily held tighter.
“Dad, don’t go.”
“I’m only going to the study.”
“The man might still be there.”
“The officers checked.”
“He knew about the tunnel.”
That stopped Elias.
Rusk had known details about the property that even Claire did not know.
The workshop tunnel was part of an old storm shelter built decades earlier. Elias discovered it during renovations and kept it functional as an emergency route. He had told only Lily and the security contractor.
Unless someone had accessed the architectural records.
Or unless Rusk had been inside the property before.
Elias knelt.
“I need to see what he was looking for. Captain Mercer will stay with you.”
Lily took the brass key and placed it back in his hand.
“Mom wanted you to have this.”
Elias entered the house with Sloan and two officers.
The foyer showed no obvious damage, but the kitchen table was covered with documents, phones, and open laptops. Lily’s mathematics homework remained beneath a glass of water.
Elias paused beside it.
The final equation was unfinished.
He continued to the study.
The portrait of his military unit had been removed from the wall, exposing the safe.
Scratches surrounded the lock.
Someone had attempted to force it open.
Elias inserted the key.
Inside were the emergency files exactly where he had left them.
The sealed letter was missing.
His chest tightened.
Then Sloan pointed toward the bottom shelf.
A second envelope rested beneath a stack of insurance documents.
Elias did not recognize it.
His name was written across the front in Claire’s handwriting.
He opened it.
Inside was a single page.
Elias,
If you are reading this, Rusk returned sooner than I expected. I told myself I was protecting Lily, but I helped create the danger around her. I cannot undo that.
Do not trust Vanessa.
Do not trust my mother.
Most importantly, do not trust Major Sloan.
Elias stopped reading.
Sloan stood beside him.
“What does it say?”
Elias folded the page before she could see it.
“A confession.”
“About what?”
“Using my credentials.”
Sloan held out her hand.
“I need the letter as evidence.”
“This is personal.”
“It is connected to an active security investigation.”
Elias studied her face.
Sloan had warned him.
Sloan had protected Lily through the emergency channel.
Sloan had brought the investigators.
But Claire had specifically named her.
“Colonel?”
Elias placed the letter inside his pocket.
“I’ll provide it after I speak with my attorney.”
Sloan’s expression changed almost imperceptibly.
“Of course.”
An officer called from the hallway.
“We found something in the basement wall.”
Elias followed them downstairs.
Behind the stacked military cases, a section of paneling had been removed. Inside the wall was a hidden metal compartment.
It contained photographs.
Dozens of them.
Elias during deployments.
Lily at school.
Claire entering banks and government offices.
Major Sloan meeting a man outside Fort Garrison.
May you like
The man was Owen Rusk.
The photograph had been taken eleven days earlier.
