Chapter 12 - Helen Ward finally tells the truth)
Helen stayed silent for two days.
Then she asked to speak with Graham.
Her lawyer objected.
Helen insisted.
The meeting took place in a secure interview room with Jonah and two investigators present.
Helen looked different without expensive clothes and perfect lighting.
Smaller.
Older.
Tired.
Graham placed the recorder on the table.
"Where is Laura?"
Helen looked at it.
"I don't know."
"Wrong answer."
"It's the truth."
"You kidnapped my son."
"I ordered Noah held."
Graham's chair scraped against the floor.
Jonah put a hand on his shoulder.
Helen continued.
"I did not order him harmed."
"You locked an eight-year-old child behind a wall."
"I was buying time."
"For whom?"
Helen looked at the mirror.
"For someone you have never met."
"Name."
"I never knew his real name."
"Caleb called him Mr. Vale."
Helen laughed bitterly.
"Of course he did."
"Who is he?"
Helen looked at Graham.
"Your father had another family."
Graham stared.
"No."
"Before he married your mother."
"No."
"A woman named Eleanor Price. She had a son."
Graham's mouth went dry.
"My father would have told me."
"Your father spent his life hiding things."
"What was the son's name?"
"Alexander."
Jonah immediately began writing.
Helen continued.
"Alexander believed Charles abandoned him because your mother came from a powerful family. Maybe he was right. Charles paid Eleanor for years. Then the payments stopped."
"When?"
"When your grandfather died."
Graham's grandfather had died thirty years earlier.
"What does Alexander have to do with Laura?"
"Everything."
Helen explained that Laura discovered old foundation accounts funneling money into shell companies.
At first she thought Helen was stealing.
Helen was.
But not for herself.
Alexander controlled several companies connected to the foundation.
He used Helen to move money.
When Laura discovered the scheme, she threatened to expose it.
Alexander responded by showing her proof that her own mother's death might not have been an overdose.
He claimed Charles Vale had been involved.
"He was manipulating her," Helen said.
"Why would Laura believe him?"
"Because he had photographs. Medical records. Letters."
"What happened before the crash?"
Helen closed her eyes.
"Laura planned to go to the police."
Graham leaned forward.
"Then?"
"Alexander intercepted her."
"Did you help him?"
Helen did not answer.
Graham's voice broke.
"Did you help him?"
"Yes."
For several seconds no one moved.
Helen began crying.
It did not soften Graham.
"We drugged her. She was taken to Blue Meridian."
"And the crash?"
"Another vehicle. A body from a private morgue. Dental records altered."
Graham stared at her in horror.
"You attended Laura's funeral."
"Yes."
"You held my son while he cried."
Helen wiped her face.
"Yes."
"Where did Alexander take Laura?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"He stopped trusting me after I tried to help her escape."
Jonah looked up.
"When?"
"Eleven months after the funeral."
The deleted recording.
Helen nodded toward the recorder.
"That was me."
Graham froze.
"I gave Laura the recorder. She knew how to use it. She made that message while I watched the hallway."
"Then what happened?"
"Alexander discovered us."
"Where?"
"A clinic in Vermont."
"Name."
"It didn't have one."
"Location."
Helen gave them an address.
Jonah sent it immediately.
Helen continued.
"After that night, Alexander moved Laura. He told me she was dead."
"Do you believe him?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because if Laura were dead, he would not still be searching for what she hid."
Graham thought of Marianne's assignment.
"What did she hide?"
Helen shook her head.
"I never knew."
"Then why take Noah?"
"Because Noah found the blue room. He saw photographs. Alexander ordered me to remove him before he told you."
"Alexander ordered you to kill Peter too."
Helen looked down.
"Yes."
"Would you have?"
Silence.
That was answer enough.
Graham stood.
Helen looked up.
"I'm sorry."
Graham stared at her.
"You don't get to use that word."
He walked toward the door.
Helen suddenly said, "Graham."
He stopped.
"Alexander knows Jonah."
Jonah's expression changed.
Helen continued.
"They met years ago."
Graham looked at his friend.
Jonah stared back.
May you like
Neither man spoke.
And for the first time since Noah's rescue, Graham wondered whether the person helping him uncover the conspiracy might also be part of it.
