Chapter 9 - The Son Victor Never Trusted
The old boat club had been abandoned after a flood damaged its foundation.
At midnight, river water moved beneath the cracked wooden floorboards. Wind pushed through broken windows.
Adrian waited inside the main room.
He wore a dark coat and carried a pistol badly concealed at his waist.
Eleanor entered alone.
Mara and Samuel watched through a camera hidden inside Eleanor’s brooch.
“You came,” Adrian said.
“You sound surprised.”
“You embarrassed me.”
“You assaulted an injured veteran in front of a crowd.”
“He was part of your plan.”
“There was no plan until you created one.”
Adrian poured whiskey into a plastic cup.
“My father says you’re dangerous.”
“Your father is correct.”
He laughed, but his eyes remained uncertain.
Eleanor placed the settlement folder on a table.
“Five million dollars is insufficient.”
Adrian stared at her.
“You said you wanted to apologize.”
“I lied.”
His hand moved toward the pistol.
Eleanor did not react.
“Your father lied too,” she continued. “He told you Samuel Hart was nobody.”
Adrian lifted the cup.
“He is nobody.”
“Then why did Victor send armed men to take him?”
Adrian drank without answering.
“Why did Victor forbid you from approaching the park lake?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Why did he remove you from the company accounts twelve days after your livestream?”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“You’ve been watching me.”
“Your entire life is online.”
She placed a still image from the security footage on the table.
Victor, Chief Cole, and the scarred worker stood near the hidden hatch.
Adrian stared at it.
“My father said the lake equipment was part of the redevelopment survey.”
“He lied.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Then ask him why the archive beneath the park contains records of every fraudulent contract connected to Project Haven.”
Adrian looked toward the broken window.
Eleanor watched his reflection in the glass.
He was afraid.
“Your father will sacrifice you,” she said.
“He already released me.”
“Chief Cole released you. Victor then appeared on television and described what you did as a mistake.”
“That means he defended me.”
“It means he separated himself from the crime.”
Adrian’s fingers tightened around the cup.
“You don’t know my father.”
“I know men who build power by making others disposable.”
“He gave me everything.”
“Except trust.”
Adrian looked again at the photograph.
“The man beside my father,” he said. “The one carrying the case. I’ve seen him before.”
Eleanor’s pulse quickened.
“Where?”
“At our house. Years ago.”
“How many years?”
“I was nine or ten.”
That would have been shortly after the fire.
“What name did he use?”
Adrian shook his head.
“I don’t remember.”
“Think.”
“My father called him Gray.”
“Did you see his face?”
“Once.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“He had a scar on his wrist and another near his hairline. He stayed in the guesthouse for several months.”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“Was his name Thomas Vale?”
Adrian opened his eyes.
“I don’t know.”
“You saw photographs of my husband after the park video.”
“Yes.”
“Was it him?”
“I said I don’t know.”
His fear turned into anger.
“Why should I help you?”
“Because Victor is preparing to leave.”
Adrian stopped.
Eleanor removed a copy of a flight manifest Mara had obtained from a confidential source. Victor’s private aircraft was scheduled to depart Friday night, hours after the city council vote.
Only two passengers were listed.
Victor Mercer and Raymond Cole.
Adrian’s name was absent.
“He wouldn’t leave without me.”
“Call him.”
Adrian took out his phone.
The call went directly to voicemail.
He tried a second number.
Disconnected.
Then a third.
No answer.
Adrian’s breathing changed.
Eleanor lowered her voice.
“Your father expected you to provoke Samuel. He knew cameras would be present. He needed the city watching you while he moved something beneath the lake.”
Adrian looked toward the river.
“What did he move?”
“That is what we intend to discover.”
A sound came from the roof.
Mara’s voice whispered through Eleanor’s earpiece.
“Movement outside. Two vehicles.”
Adrian reached for the pistol.
The front windows shattered inward as bright lights flooded the room.
A voice from outside ordered them to lie on the floor.
Adrian looked at Eleanor.
“You brought the police.”
“No.”
The voice came again.
“Adrian Mercer, your father wants the documents.”
Adrian’s face collapsed.
Eleanor grabbed his arm and pulled him behind an overturned table.
A dark object rolled through the doorway, releasing thick smoke.
Mara entered through the rear window.
“Move.”
They escaped across the damaged dock while men entered the main room.
Samuel waited in a small fishing boat beneath the pier.
Mara pushed Eleanor and Adrian aboard, then cut the rope.
Samuel started the motor.
As the boat moved into the river, Adrian watched flames begin to spread through the club.
“My father knew I was here,” he said.
Eleanor looked back at the burning building.
“No.”
She pointed toward a figure standing near the water.
The man wore a black coat.
A scar crossed his wrist.
“He knew I was here.”
The man raised one hand.
For a moment, Eleanor thought he was waving.
May you like
Then she saw the small device between his fingers.
The boat’s engine died.
