Chapter 6 - The Man I Was Supposed to Hate
Evelyn almost laughed when Richard said Grant’s name. Not because anything was funny, but because the man who had cheated on her, tried to gain control of her property while she lay medicated, and allowed his mistress to slap her had somehow become a potential hostage in a criminal conspiracy involving her dead father, her uncle, and a developer who had been burying secrets for decades. “Why would Cross kill Grant?” Evelyn asked. Richard answered, “Because Grant started copying his files.” Naomi looked sharply at Evelyn. “He did what?” Richard continued, “Your husband got greedy, then scared. Cross promised him a fortune from Juniper Point. When Grant realized Ash Harbor was tied to old laundering operations, he tried to create insurance.” Evelyn remembered Grant’s strange fear whenever the money trail came up. Perhaps some of it had not been fear of being exposed. Perhaps he feared Cross.
Richard told them not to contact police openly because Cross had people monitoring local law enforcement. Detective Mills, still on speaker, silently texted Naomi instructions. State investigators were already moving toward the property. Evelyn asked Richard where Grant was. “Cross took him from the hotel an hour ago.” “How do you know?” “Because I arranged the meeting.” Evelyn closed her eyes. “Of course you did.” Richard sounded ashamed. “I thought Cross wanted the copied files. I didn’t know he planned to take Grant.” “You keep making mistakes that somehow hurt everyone except you.” “I’m trying to fix this.” “Then start talking.” Richard confessed that he joined Cross’s network after Thomas died. He believed his brother’s death had ruined the family financially, but Cross offered to help. Over years Richard became useful—holding companies, facilitating property purchases, signing documents. He claimed he never knew Cross caused Thomas’s death. “Did you know about the toxic waste?” Evelyn asked. “Not until three years ago.” “And you still helped him buy land.” “He threatened my children.” Evelyn’s voice went cold. “Everybody has a reason.”
Headlights appeared through the trees. Daniel turned off the living-room lights. Naomi gathered the box. Detective Mills instructed them to move to the rear boathouse where state police could approach from the water. Evelyn tried to stand too quickly and pain ripped through her abdomen. Daniel caught her. “Slow down.” “We don’t have time.” “You just had surgery.” “I noticed.” Another set of headlights appeared. Two SUVs. Evelyn moved toward the back porch while Naomi carried documents. Then someone pounded on the front door. “Evelyn!” Grant’s voice.
Everyone froze. “Grant?” Evelyn turned. Daniel grabbed her arm. “Wait.” Grant shouted again. “Open the door!” Through the side window Evelyn saw him alone on the porch, his shirt torn, blood on his forehead. She opened the door despite Naomi’s protest. Grant stumbled inside. “We have to go.” “Where is Cross?” “Behind me.” “How did you get away?” “I didn’t.” Evelyn stared. Grant’s breathing was ragged. “He let me come in.” Naomi immediately understood. “Tracker?” Grant shook his head. “Worse. He thinks I can convince Evelyn to hand over the box.” Daniel laughed. “That worked beautifully at the hospital.” Grant glared at him. “Not now.” Evelyn looked at her husband. “Did Cross threaten you?” “Yes.” “Did he threaten me?” “Yes.” “And what are you supposed to do if I refuse?” Grant’s silence answered. He had been sent in as leverage.
Then Grant did something Evelyn did not expect. He reached into his shoe and removed a tiny memory card. “This is everything I copied from Cross.” Naomi stared. “You hid that in your shoe?” “They searched everywhere else.” Grant handed it to Evelyn, not Naomi. “There are bank accounts, recordings, Ash Harbor ownership documents, payments to Rachel, payments to Sloane, everything.” Evelyn held the card. “Why?” Grant looked at her. “Because I knew eventually Cross would turn on me.” “That’s not redemption.” “I know.” “Why didn’t you come to me?” His eyes filled with shame. “Because then I would have to admit what I’d done.” “So instead you did more.” “Yes.”
A vehicle stopped outside. Grant looked toward the window. “He’s here.” State police were still minutes away. Cross’s men spread through the trees. Naomi whispered, “Boathouse.” They moved out the back. Evelyn’s incision burned with every step. Grant stayed behind her, one hand hovering near her back but never touching without permission. At the dock, they found Richard waiting beside a boat. Evelyn stared. “You came.” “I told you I’m trying to fix this.” Daniel snapped, “By bringing Cross here?” Richard looked at Grant. “I didn’t expect him to escape.” Grant replied, “I didn’t.” Richard’s face changed.
A voice came from the darkness. “Nobody escapes.” William Cross stepped onto the dock holding a pistol. Two men stood behind him. He was sixty-eight, silver-haired, well dressed even at midnight, the kind of man magazines described as civic-minded because he donated to museums with money earned crushing neighborhoods. “Evelyn,” he said. “You look remarkably well for someone recently operated on.” Grant moved slightly in front of her. Cross smiled. “Now you grow courage?” Grant said, “Leave her out of this.” “You brought her in when you failed to get the deed signed.” Evelyn looked at Cross. “You’re not getting Juniper Point.” “I already own everything around it.” “Then enjoy the view.” His smile vanished.
Cross wanted the steel box. Naomi had hidden it beneath a tarp in the boat. Evelyn needed time. “Why did you kill my father?” she asked. Richard closed his eyes. Cross looked almost amused. “Thomas killed himself by believing evidence was stronger than power.” “Did you run him off the road?” Cross shrugged. “A truck driver was paid to encourage an accident.” Richard whispered, “You told me it was weather.” Cross laughed. “You believed what was convenient.” Richard suddenly stepped toward him. One of the guards raised his weapon. Evelyn shouted, “Richard!” The gun fired.
Richard fell onto the dock clutching his shoulder. Chaos exploded. Daniel dragged Evelyn behind a wooden piling. Grant tackled one guard. Naomi kicked the box into the boat and shoved it away from the dock. Cross shouted. Another gunshot cracked across the lake. Blue lights appeared through the trees and boats roared from the darkness. State police. Cross ran toward the shoreline. Grant wrestled the armed guard to the ground, taking a blow across the face. Daniel kept Evelyn shielded until officers flooded the dock.
Cross disappeared into the woods before police closed the perimeter.
Richard survived. The bullet had passed through his shoulder.
Grant sat on the dock bleeding from his nose while an officer handcuffed the security guard. Evelyn stood a few feet away. Grant looked at her. “Are you okay?” “I think so.” “The incision?” “Still attached.” He laughed weakly. Then his expression broke. “I’m sorry.” Evelyn looked across the dark water. “I know.” “I’m going to testify.” “Good.” “About everything.” “You should.” “Even if it sends me to prison.” She finally met his eyes. “That’s what telling the truth costs sometimes.”
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Grant nodded. “Your father said something like that in one of Cross’s recordings.” Evelyn froze. “What recording?” Grant looked toward the memory card in her hand. “There’s a file you need to hear.” Later, after police secured the house, Naomi opened it on a laptop. Thomas Whitmore’s voice filled the room. “William, if anything happens to me, Evelyn will eventually find this.” Cross laughed. “She’s a child.” Thomas answered, “Not forever.” Then came the sentence that made Evelyn cry. “My daughter sees cracks before everyone else sees a collapse.” Evelyn covered her mouth. Her father had known exactly what she would become.
But the recording contained something else. Cross mentioned a “second vault” and said Caroline had no idea where Thomas moved the original ledgers. Evelyn frowned. “Second vault?” Naomi looked at Daniel. Daniel looked at Evelyn. Then Richard, pale from blood loss but conscious while paramedics treated him, spoke from the ambulance. “I know where it is.” Evelyn turned. “Where?” Richard swallowed. “Under Hartwell Studio.”
