Chapter 9 - St. Orison)
They did not leave Detective Ortiz behind.
They simply made it look as if they had.
Ortiz arranged for two state police vehicles to follow several miles back without headlights visible from Claire's car.
The address led them to an abandoned property thirty minutes inland from Portland.
The old St. Orison building stood beyond rusted gates.
Gray stone walls.
Narrow windows.
A central tower.
Most of the property was dark.
One light burned on the third floor.
Claire felt sick.
"That's where she was."
Daniel parked near the side entrance.
Ortiz spoke through the phone.
"Keep the line open."
Claire placed the phone in her pocket.
She and Daniel entered.
The hallway smelled of mildew.
Old paint peeled from the walls.
Metal doors lined both sides.
Names had once been printed beside them, but most had been scraped away.
Claire touched one.
Her mother may have stood behind doors like these for years.
Daniel whispered, "I'm sorry."
Claire shook her head.
"Don't apologize for them."
They climbed the stairs.
The third floor was cleaner.
Recently used.
A light glowed beneath a door.
Claire pushed it open.
Marcus Reed sat alone at a wooden table.
No Evelyn.
Daniel stopped.
"Dad."
Marcus looked exhausted.
His expensive suit was wrinkled.
His tie was gone.
He looked nothing like the confident attorney Claire had known all her life.
"Close the door."
Daniel did not.
"Where is Evelyn?"
Marcus looked at Claire.
"Safe."
"Where?"
"I need the locket."
Claire touched her throat.
"No."
Marcus leaned back.
"Then we have nothing to discuss."
Daniel stepped forward.
"What did you do?"
Marcus looked at his son.
"I protected people."
"You imprisoned them."
"I handled legal arrangements."
"Don't talk like a lawyer."
Marcus's expression hardened.
"You have no idea what those years were like."
Claire laughed.
"My mother does."
Marcus looked at her.
Something strange appeared in his face.
Shame.
"I never wanted Evelyn hurt."
"But you committed her."
"Richard committed her."
"You arranged it."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because she had the ledger."
Claire froze.
"The original ledger."
Marcus nodded.
"What was in it?"
"Payments."
"To whom?"
"Doctors. Judges. trustees. Private security. Political consultants."
Daniel stared.
"This was bigger than Whitmore Industries."
"Much bigger."
"Who ran it?"
Marcus said nothing.
Claire stepped closer.
"Who?"
Marcus looked toward the hallway.
Then whispered.
"My father didn't start it either."
Daniel's face went pale.
"Arthur?"
"He inherited the work."
"From whom?"
Marcus shook his head.
"Names won't help you."
"Try me."
Marcus looked at Claire.
"Your grandfather."
Claire stopped.
"My mother's father?"
"No."
"Richard's father?"
Marcus nodded.
"Charles Whitmore."
Claire thought of the stern black-and-white portrait hanging in Whitmore Hall.
The founder's son.
The family patriarch.
Dead for seventeen years.
"What did he do?"
"He built relationships. Hospitals. attorneys. judges. Families with money needed problems solved quietly."
Claire's stomach turned.
"People were problems."
"Sometimes."
"My mother?"
Marcus looked down.
"Evelyn found evidence."
"So Charles ordered her committed?"
"No."
"Who did?"
Marcus said nothing.
Claire's pulse quickened.
"Victoria?"
Marcus looked up.
Claire understood.
"Victoria found the system first."
"Yes."
"And Thomas tried to expose it."
Marcus closed his eyes.
"Yes."
"Did you kill him?"
Daniel whispered, "Claire."
But Marcus answered.
"No."
"Did Arthur?"
"I don't know."
"You expect us to believe that?"
"I spent half my life trying to learn what happened to Thomas."
Daniel stared.
"Why?"
Marcus looked at his son.
"Because Thomas Whitmore was my friend."
Silence.
Claire had not expected that.
Marcus continued.
"He came to me before he went north. I was twenty-four. A junior associate under my father. Thomas showed me documents. He said Victoria had been committed under a false name."
"Did you help him?"
"I gave him access codes."
Richard had said Thomas took his car.
Now Marcus had helped too.
Two men had tried to help.
Neither had stopped what happened.
"What happened to him?"
Marcus shook his head.
"I don't know."
Claire looked around.
"Why are we here?"
"Because this is where Evelyn told me to meet her."
Claire stared.
"My mother contacted you?"
"Seven months ago."
"The photograph at the blue house."
"Yes."
"What did she want?"
"Help."
Claire almost laughed.
"From you?"
"I was the only person alive who knew how the legal records had been hidden."
"Did you help her?"
"Yes."
"Then why did she warn us about you?"
Marcus's expression changed.
"Because she stopped trusting me."
"Why?"
Marcus leaned forward.
"Anna Hale died."
Claire's chest tightened.
"What happened to her?"
"I don't know."
"She was poisoned, wasn't she?"
Marcus looked at Daniel.
"I had her body exhumed."
Daniel stared.
"You what?"
"I paid for an independent toxicology review."
"Why secretly?"
"Because I was trying to find out who was cleaning up the old network."
Claire whispered, "Old network?"
Marcus nodded.
"Most of the people involved are dead or retired. But someone has been reopening files."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
Claire stepped closer.
"Where is my mother?"
Marcus finally stood.
"She isn't here."
Claire's blood went cold.
"You showed me a photograph."
"She sent it to me."
"When?"
"One hour before I sent it to you."
"You sent the threat."
Marcus looked ashamed.
"I needed you here before whoever was watching reached you."
"You threatened her."
"I made you believe I had her."
Daniel shoved the table.
"You terrified Claire."
"I kept her moving."
"From what?"
Marcus looked toward the doorway.
"The person who followed you."
Claire froze.
A sound came from downstairs.
A metal door closing.
May you like
Marcus whispered, "They found us."
Then the lights went out.
