Chapter 14 - lieutenant cole finally named the driver
Aaron Cole looked nothing like the confident police lieutenant Gabriel remembered.
He sat behind reinforced glass in a secure interview room.
His face was bruised.
One arm was bandaged.
Two federal agents stood outside.
Cole had surrendered because, in his words, the people paying him had decided he knew too much.
Gabriel watched while Detective Shaw questioned him.
"Who paid you?"
"Malcolm Mercer."
"For how long?"
"Eight years."
"What did you do?"
"Information. Reports. Evidence management."
"Evidence management?"
Cole looked ashamed.
"I made things disappear."
"Julia Mercer's crash?"
Cole looked toward the glass.
He knew Gabriel was watching.
"Yes."
Gabriel's hands tightened.
Shaw remained calm.
"What did you remove?"
"Traffic camera footage."
"What did it show?"
"A second SUV."
"Who drove it?"
Cole looked down.
"Vincent Rourke."
Shaw asked, "Who is he?"
"Private contractor. Former military. Security work."
"Who hired him?"
Cole hesitated.
"That is complicated."
"No. It's a name."
"Malcolm paid him."
Gabriel's heart sank.
Maybe Malcolm had lied again.
Shaw asked, "To kill Julia?"
"No."
Gabriel leaned closer.
Cole continued.
"Malcolm hired Rourke to follow her."
"Why?"
"Protection."
Shaw's expression changed.
"Protection from whom?"
"Adrian Morrow."
Gabriel felt confusion again.
"But Adrian was with Julia earlier."
"I know."
"How?"
"Malcolm told me."
"Then what happened?"
Cole took a breath.
"Rourke followed Julia from the old estate. She stopped near Quarry Road and met someone."
"Adrian?"
"No."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Shaw placed Adrian's photograph on the table.
"This man?"
Cole shook his head.
"No."
"Male or female?"
"Female."
Gabriel felt a chill.
Shaw asked, "Then where did the dark SUV come from?"
"Rourke was driving it."
Gabriel stared.
Caroline had seen a dark SUV following Julia.
She assumed its driver was dangerous.
Maybe he had been Malcolm's surveillance.
Shaw asked, "Did Rourke cause the crash?"
Cole looked directly at her.
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because he called me afterward."
"And?"
"He said Julia's brakes failed."
Gabriel stopped breathing.
"Failed?"
Cole continued.
"She was going downhill. She tried to slow down. Nothing happened. Rourke tried to get beside her, but the road was too narrow."
Shaw asked, "Did he see anyone tamper with the vehicle?"
"No."
"Then why did you remove the traffic footage?"
"Malcolm ordered me to."
"Why?"
"He said if the footage became public, people would assume he arranged the crash because Rourke worked for him."
"So he covered up evidence."
"Yes."
"Did he know the brakes were sabotaged?"
"Not before."
Gabriel felt a strange mixture of rage and relief.
Malcolm was guilty of many things.
But perhaps not Julia's murder.
Shaw asked, "Who had access to Julia's vehicle?"
Cole looked at the table.
"Household staff. Company garage. Family."
"Caroline?"
"Yes."
"Malcolm?"
"Yes."
"Gabriel?"
"Yes."
"Adrian?"
Cole hesitated.
"Possibly."
Gabriel closed his eyes.
They still did not have the killer.
Then Shaw asked the most important question.
"Who tried to kill you?"
Cole's face tightened.
"Rourke."
Gabriel looked up.
Shaw frowned.
"The same man Malcolm hired?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"He said he was cleaning up."
"For Malcolm?"
"No."
"Then for whom?"
Cole looked genuinely terrified.
"I don't know."
Shaw leaned closer.
"You've spent eight years selling police information to billionaires. Don't suddenly become vague."
Cole looked toward the observation window.
"Rourke said Malcolm was finished."
Gabriel felt his heart beat harder.
"He said the old family was collapsing and the new one was taking back what belonged to them."
"Morrow?"
Cole nodded.
"Did he say Adrian?"
"No."
"Elena?"
Cole became still.
Shaw noticed.
"What?"
Cole looked down.
"Rourke called someone after he attacked me."
"Who?"
"I didn't hear a name."
"What did he say?"
Cole swallowed.
"He said, Mrs. Mercer, it's done."
Gabriel felt the blood drain from his face.
Shaw stared at Cole.
"Mrs. Mercer?"
"Yes."
"Caroline?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"I know Caroline's voice. The woman answered through the car speakers."
Gabriel could barely breathe.
Shaw asked, "Could it have been another member of the Mercer family?"
Cole nodded.
Gabriel thought of Julia.
Dead.
His mother had died years earlier.
Caroline was unmarried.
No other Mrs. Mercer existed.
Unless someone had married into the forgotten branch.
Elena Morrow Mercer.
Shaw asked, "Was the woman older?"
"Sounded like it."
Gabriel looked toward the ceiling.
Elena.
Possibly alive.
Possibly controlling Rourke.
Possibly the real force behind Morrow.
But one question remained.
Why would Elena kill Julia if Julia was trying to expose the Mercer family's crimes?
Cole said something else.
"I heard one more sentence."
Shaw leaned closer.
"What?"
"The woman told Rourke not to touch the children."
Gabriel became still.
"What?"
Cole looked toward the glass again.
"She said the children were never part of the agreement."
Gabriel opened the observation room door.
Shaw looked toward him.
Gabriel entered.
"What agreement?"
Cole shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Who was allowed to be hurt?"
"I don't know."
"Was Julia?"
"I don't know."
Gabriel grabbed the back of a chair.
"Then tell me something you do know."
Cole closed his eyes.
"When Julia died, Malcolm told me to destroy everything connected to the second SUV."
Gabriel waited.
"I kept one file."
"Why?"
"Insurance."
"Where?"
Cole looked at Shaw.
"In a bank deposit box."
"What is inside?"
"A copy of Rourke's dash camera."
Gabriel's heart accelerated.
"The night Julia died?"
"Yes."
Shaw immediately stood.
"Which bank?"
Cole gave her the location.
Three hours later, federal agents opened the deposit box.
Inside was a small drive.
Gabriel sat beside Shaw as they played it.
Rain covered the windshield.
Julia's SUV was visible ahead.
The timestamp matched the night of the crash.
Her brake lights flashed repeatedly.
Then her vehicle accelerated down the hill.
Rourke's SUV followed.
For several seconds, the footage showed nothing except rain.
Then Julia's car passed beneath a streetlamp.
A passenger was visible inside.
Gabriel leaned closer.
"She wasn't alone."
Shaw paused the image.
A person sat in the passenger seat.
Female.
Dark hair.
Gabriel's heart pounded.
"Who is that?"
Shaw enhanced the frame.
The woman's face turned slightly.
Gabriel did not recognize her.
Then she turned again.
And he saw something that made no sense.
May you like
Around her neck was Julia's silver family pendant.
The same pendant police had reported finding on Julia's body.
