Chapter 7 - Mason’s Celebration
While Declan waited for release, Mason celebrated his promotion to chief strategy officer of Vale Automotive.
He held the party at the Vale estate.
Champagne flowed beneath crystal chandeliers. Executives praised his vision. Charles announced that Mason would eventually succeed him as chairman.
Victoria watched from the center of the ballroom with tears of pride.
Neither of them knew that three members of the board were secretly cooperating with investigators.
Mason had become careless.
He used the silver Fenwick’s keys as a private joke, carrying them even though the car was officially destroyed. He sometimes showed them to close friends while telling a false story about surviving the crash.
One guest recorded him saying, “My brother was always useful when something needed to disappear.”
That recording reached Reese.
Mason also sent Declan a second letter.
He wrote it after drinking during his promotion party.
You will be released soon, so understand this clearly. Do not come back to the company. Do not contact our parents. They chose me long before the accident. The crash only made the decision permanent.
Declan read the letter twice.
Then he gave it to Reese.
“It does not prove he was driving,” Declan said.
“No,” Reese replied. “But it proves motive and consciousness of guilt.”
Declan’s conviction was formally vacated six days before his scheduled release. The state offered to transport him quietly to a private location.
Declan refused.
“I entered through the public gate as a convicted man,” he said. “I will leave through it as an innocent one.”
Reese agreed, but asked him to keep the exoneration confidential until the warrants were ready.
That was why Charles believed Declan was still leaving prison merely because his sentence had ended.
Charles decided to meet him for one reason.
He wanted Declan to sign a legal agreement promising never to discuss the case publicly.
Victoria came because she believed her presence would make the offer appear compassionate.
Mason insisted on joining them.
He wanted to see what prison had done to the brother he had betrayed.
Before leaving for Blackridge, Mason stood before the mirror in his bedroom and adjusted his expensive suit.
On the dresser lay the Fenwick keys.
He picked them up.
They made him feel powerful.
He did not know that the original crash footage had already been copied to six secure servers.
He did not know that his promotion party recording had been delivered to the attorney general.
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He did not know that the two people he considered untouchable had lost control of their company that morning.
And he did not know that Declan’s real parents were already on the road.
