Chapter 8 - THE FIRST BETRAYAL
Ella did not accuse Adrian immediately.
She waited until they were alone outside the quarry.
Federal agents carried evidence from the underground rooms. Ambulances arrived after investigators found traces of blood and medical waste.
Adrian stood beside his car, reading messages on his phone.
Ella approached.
“What did Daniel mean?”
Adrian looked up.
“I don’t know.”
“You were the first person who helped me after he died.”
“I was a patrol officer at the crash scene.”
“You kept evidence.”
“Yes.”
“You contacted me three months after the funeral.”
“Yes.”
“You told me the case was wrong.”
“Because it was.”
Ella removed Daniel’s phone from the evidence sleeve.
“He specifically warned me.”
“Maybe he meant someone else.”
“Who?”
“Your mother. Sophie. Evelyn Grant.”
“None of them helped me first.”
Adrian’s expression remained steady.
“What do you think I did?”
“I think you’ve told me only part of the truth.”
He looked toward the agents.
Then he opened his car door.
“Get in.”
They drove to an empty field beyond the quarry.
Adrian stopped the car.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Finally, he removed his badge and placed it on the dashboard.
“My father worked for Charles Donovan.”
Ella stared at him.
“In what role?”
“Security consultant.”
“Your father knew Rourke?”
“He trained him.”
Ella felt betrayed even before the rest came.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because my father disappeared a week after Daniel died.”
“What was his name?”
“Michael Cole.”
Ella knew the name from the blue ledger research. Michael Cole had been listed as a contractor on several Donovan projects.
“Was he involved in Daniel’s death?”
“I don’t know.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
Adrian gripped the steering wheel.
“My father called me the night Daniel died. He said he had made a terrible mistake. He told me to go to Briar Ridge and protect the boy in the car.”
“You were sent there.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t discover the crash by chance.”
“No.”
Ella looked away.
“Did you reach Daniel while he was alive?”
Adrian’s silence answered.
Ella turned back.
“You said he survived six to twelve minutes.”
“I arrived during that time.”
“What happened?”
“He was conscious.”
Her voice broke despite her effort to control it.
“Did he speak?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“He gave me the plastic from the other vehicle. He said Mark and Rourke had followed him.”
“What else?”
“He told me the ledger was hidden inside the house.”
“You knew.”
“I didn’t know where.”
“What else?”
“He said Ella must never know what she is.”
The sentence felt like a blow.
“What I am?”
“That was all.”
“Did you call an ambulance?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he die?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Because Dr. Evelyn Grant arrived before the ambulance.”
Ella remembered Sophie’s letter.
A woman in a white coat.
“She treated him?”
“She injected him with something.”
“And you allowed it?”
“I thought she was helping.”
“You were a police officer.”
“I was twenty-nine, standing in the rain beside a dying teenager while the most respected doctor in the county told me she was stabilizing him.”
“Did he die after the injection?”
“Yes.”
Ella opened the car door.
Adrian grabbed her wrist.
She pulled free.
“Don’t touch me.”
“I spent seven years trying to prove what happened.”
“While hiding that you watched him die.”
“I was ashamed.”
“You were protecting yourself.”
“Yes.”
The admission filled the car.
Adrian’s voice lowered.
“I failed him. I failed you. But I did not kill Daniel.”
“You lied to me.”
“I withheld the truth.”
“That’s what my family calls lying.”
Ella stepped from the car.
Adrian followed.
“You cannot go to the gala alone.”
“I’m not going with you.”
“Charles expects the recording. Sophie may be there.”
“I know.”
“Rourke will kill you if he thinks you’re working with police.”
“He already knows.”
“Then let me help.”
Daniel’s warning echoed in her mind.
Don’t trust the person who helps you first.
Ella looked at Adrian’s badge on the dashboard.
“Turn over all the evidence to the federal team.”
“I already have.”
“Give me Daniel’s phone.”
“It’s evidence.”
“It belongs to my family.”
“So does the conspiracy we’re investigating.”
Ella moved closer.
“My brother’s final words belong to me.”
Adrian studied her face.
Then he gave her the phone.
“Whatever you decide,” he said, “do not enter the west greenhouse at eight thirty.”
Ella took the device.
“That is exactly where I’m going.”
She walked toward the federal vehicles.
Behind her, Adrian said, “Ella, there is one more thing.”
She stopped but did not turn.
“My father came back.”
Ella faced him.
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He left a message.”
“What did it say?”
Adrian reached into his pocket and played a voicemail.
An older man’s frightened voice filled the air.
“Adrian, do not trust the arrest warrants. Charles wants the police at the gala.”
The message ended.
Ella looked toward the distant quarry.
Her father had invited powerful people, hidden evidence, and arranged for police to arrive.
May you like
The gala was not a celebration.
It was a trap.
