Chapter 9 - The Message That Knew Grant's Voice)
The phone unlocked on Grant's second attempt.
"Grant Mercer."
A green light appeared.
Daniel stood beside him inside the church.
A single audio file opened automatically.
The date was the night Amelia died.
Grant's hands shook.
He pressed play.
At first there was only wind.
Then Amelia spoke.
"Grant."
One word.
Grant closed his eyes.
Her voice sounded exhausted.
"If this reaches you, something went wrong."
Daniel looked away.
Amelia continued.
"I need you to hear all of it before you decide who to hate."
Grant sat in the front pew.
"The foundation is being used by Northstar. Mason got involved because of debt, but he's not the person controlling it."
A pause.
"Evelyn Cross is involved too."
Grant looked at Daniel.
"But she's also the reason I'm still alive long enough to make this recording."
Grant frowned.
Amelia continued.
"She warned me that Vale knows I've been collecting evidence."
Grant's heartbeat accelerated.
"Evelyn says she can get me out."
Grant whispered, "Vanessa."
"I don't trust her completely. But Daniel does."
Daniel lowered his head.
"The plan is for me to disappear for seventy-two hours. During that time, Daniel will move copies of the evidence and Evelyn will make Vale believe I destroyed the originals."
Grant struggled to breathe.
"I haven't told you because I know exactly what you'll do. You'll confront Mason. Then you'll confront Evelyn. Then you'll try to protect me by standing directly in front of the danger."
A broken laugh came through the recording.
"That's one of the reasons I love you."
Grant covered his eyes.
"Once the evidence is secure, I'm coming home."
The wind grew louder.
"If something changes, Daniel has instructions."
Daniel stiffened.
Amelia's voice dropped.
"Grant, if I don't come home, protect Ben and Sophie. Don't trust the accident until you see proof yourself."
Grant looked up.
Then came the final sentence.
"And if Evelyn ever tells you I betrayed you, she's lying."
The recording ended.
Grant remained seated.
Daniel whispered, "I never heard that."
Grant turned.
"What were your instructions?"
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
"Get Amelia to a private airfield."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Why?"
"She never arrived."
Grant stood.
"So where did she go?"
"I don't know."
"Did Vanessa?"
"No."
"Then who does?"
Daniel looked toward the church doors.
"Vale."
Grant called Ortiz.
Within an hour, police began reexamining Amelia's death.
The original dental identification came from records provided by a private clinic.
That clinic closed eighteen months later.
The dentist who signed the comparison died in a boating accident.
The medical examiner's office had retained tissue samples.
DNA testing was ordered.
Grant waited.
Two days.
Three.
On the fourth morning, Ortiz arrived at the safe house.
Grant knew the moment he saw his face.
"The body in Amelia's vehicle wasn't Amelia."
Grant did not move.
Behind him, Sophie was drawing at the kitchen counter.
Ben was upstairs.
Grant whispered, "Say that again."
Ortiz lowered his voice.
"The remains recovered from the crash do not match your children's maternal DNA."
Grant gripped the back of a chair.
"Then who did we bury?"
"We don't know yet."
"Where is my wife?"
"We don't know."
Grant's eyes filled.
Three years.
He had mourned Amelia.
Spoken at her funeral.
Packed her clothes.
Explained death to their children.
Started another relationship.
Planned another marriage.
All while there remained a possibility she had survived.
Sophie looked over.
"Dad?"
Grant turned away before she could see his face.
Ortiz guided him into the next room.
"There's more."
Grant laughed once.
"Of course there is."
"We identified Adrian Vale."
"Who is he?"
"Former private intelligence contractor. Multiple aliases. Suspected involvement in international financial crimes, witness intimidation and disappearances."
"Disappearances."
"Yes."
Grant looked at him.
"Could Amelia be alive?"
Ortiz chose his words carefully.
"It's possible."
Grant sat down.
The word was more painful than certainty.
Possible.
A door opened upstairs.
Ben came down.
He looked at Grant.
"What's wrong?"
Grant glanced at Ortiz.
Then decided.
No more secrets.
He asked both children to sit.
Sophie climbed into his lap.
Grant took Ben's hand.
"We found out something about Mom."
Ben's face changed.
"What?"
"The police were wrong about the accident."
Sophie frowned.
"How?"
Grant swallowed.
"The person in the car wasn't Mom."
Neither child spoke.
Then Sophie asked the question Grant feared.
"Is Mommy alive?"
Grant's eyes filled.
"I don't know."
Sophie stared at him.
"If she's alive, why didn't she come home?"
Grant had no answer.
Ben looked down.
"Maybe she couldn't."
Grant squeezed his son's hand.
"Maybe."
That evening, a message arrived on the black phone.
No sender.
One sentence.
If you want the truth about Amelia, bring the Northstar drive to the Riverside Hotel at midnight.
Daniel read it.
"It's Vale."
Grant stared at the message.
Ortiz immediately began planning surveillance.
Daniel shook his head.
"He'll expect police."
Grant looked toward the room where his children slept.
Then at the phone.
For three years someone had controlled the truth.
Now they wanted something Amelia died, or disappeared, trying to protect.
Grant finally understood what he had to do.
May you like
He would bring the drive.
But not the real one.
