Chapter 10 - The Driver's Secret)
The driver survived.
His name was Daniel Cross.
He had worked for Eleanor for eleven years.
Under police questioning, Daniel said nothing.
Not until Noah entered the hospital room.
Eleanor objected.
Detective Torres allowed it.
Daniel looked at Noah's face and laughed softly.
"You look like her."
"My mother?"
"Yes."
"You knew her?"
"No."
"Then how do you know?"
"Photographs."
Noah sat.
"You sent the warning from Grace's room."
Daniel smiled.
"Prove it."
"You knew the security system."
Silence.
"You planted the phone."
Still silence.
"You burned Lake Ashcroft."
Daniel's smile disappeared.
"I wasn't there."
"Someone from your group was."
Daniel's eyes sharpened.
Noah noticed.
"Project Winter."
The reaction was tiny.
Enough.
"You know that name."
Daniel leaned back.
"You should stop asking questions."
"That's what everyone keeps saying."
"Because everyone smarter than you understands what happens to people who ask them."
Noah stared.
"Did you kill my mother?"
Daniel laughed.
"No."
"Do you know who did?"
"Maybe nobody did."
Noah's pulse quickened.
"She's alive?"
Daniel shrugged.
"Wouldn't that be something?"
Noah stood.
Daniel said, "Sit."
Noah almost left.
Then Daniel added, "Your father is alive."
Noah stopped.
He turned slowly.
"What?"
Daniel smiled.
"You didn't think this was only about Grace, did you?"
"Who is my father?"
"Ask Eleanor."
"She says she doesn't know."
"Then Eleanor Vale finally learned how to lie properly."
Noah returned to the chair.
"Tell me."
"No."
"What do you want?"
Daniel leaned forward.
"The ledger."
Noah said nothing.
"Give me Project Winter, and I'll give you your father's name."
"We copied it."
Daniel's smile returned.
"No, you didn't."
Noah felt cold.
The ledger they recovered had been placed inside Eleanor's safe.
That morning, they discovered every page related to Project Winter had turned black.
Heat-sensitive ink.
Destroyed.
Vanessa had photographed only part of one page before the fire.
Not enough.
Daniel continued.
"Grace designed the ledger to erase if stored incorrectly."
"Why?"
"Because she was smarter than all of you."
"You worked for her?"
Daniel did not answer.
Noah understood.
"You did."
Daniel's expression changed.
"Careful."
"You were one of Mom's people."
"I was nobody's person."
"Then why protect Project Winter?"
Daniel leaned closer.
"Because your mother misunderstood what she found."
"What was it?"
"A contingency."
"For what?"
"The end of the Vale family."
Noah stared.
Daniel laughed quietly.
"Now you understand why everyone is afraid of you."
Later, Noah told Eleanor everything.
She denied knowing his father.
Vanessa did not believe her.
Neither did Margaret.
Noah wanted to.
That hurt most.
That evening, Adrian arrived unexpectedly.
He was carrying an old leather folder.
"I think we should stop lying."
Eleanor looked at him.
"That's new."
Adrian placed the folder on the table.
"My father left this to me."
Inside was a handwritten journal belonging to Victor Vale.
Noah read the final entry.
Grace is right about the transfers.
I thought I was stealing from the company.
I was being allowed to.
Someone needed my transactions to hide theirs.
Richard knows more.
Marcus knows everything.
Eleanor knows nothing.
And Grace is about to discover the person she trusts most is the one who started Project Winter.
Noah looked up.
"Who did she trust most?"
Adrian nodded toward Eleanor.
The room went silent.
Eleanor stared at her nephew.
"You think I created it?"
Adrian answered softly.
"My father did."
Noah turned to Eleanor.
Her face showed something he had not seen before.
Not fear.
Guilt.
"Eleanor?"
She sat down.
"No."
Noah waited.
She continued.
"I did not create Project Winter."
May you like
Relief barely formed before she added:
"But I know who did."
