Chapter 14 - THE BETRAYAL CLOSEST TO HOME|
We escaped through the basement tunnel moments before the men entered the clinic.
Marcus took us to a safe property outside Denver, where we secured Margaret and reviewed her testimony.
She insisted on speaking only after Jenna sat beside her.
"Victor Voss wanted the money," Margaret explained. "But Daniel Blackwood had discovered that someone inside his own organization was selling information to Voss. Your father was planning to expose the traitor."
I leaned forward.
"Who?"
Margaret shook her head.
"I never saw the full name. Thomas told me it was someone Daniel trusted like a brother."
Richard.
The answer seemed obvious.
Yet Margaret looked troubled.
"Richard helped Voss, but he wasn't the only one. The man who arranged the warehouse meeting had access to Daniel's private schedule. He knew exactly when your father would be alone."
"Why would Richard hide that?"
"Because he was afraid of him."
"Who?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Your father's closest friend. The man who helped raise you after Daniel died."
I felt the room tilt.
My father's closest friend had been Henry Cole, the attorney who had managed the family estate and helped me take control of the business when I was twenty-three.
He had been my mentor. My adviser. The man who taught me to negotiate.
The man who had insisted that my father's death was an accident.
"No," I said.
Margaret looked at me with sympathy.
"Sometimes the people who betray us are the ones who know exactly where to stand so we never see them."
My phone rang.
Henry Cole.
I answered, forcing my voice to remain calm.
"Evan. I've been trying to reach you. There's been an incident at the office."
"What kind of incident?"
"Someone accessed the old archives. Marcus's name came up in connection with a suspicious company. I thought you should know."
I looked at Marcus.
He shook his head.
Henry was fishing.
"I'll handle it."
"Of course. But be careful, Evan. You know what your father used to say. Trust is the foundation of every empire."
I ended the call.
Jenna studied me.
"That's the man you suspect?"
"Yes."
"Then we need proof."
"We have the ledger."
"Not enough. He'll say it's forged."
Margaret nodded.
"Thomas kept a second recording. He said it contained the original conversation where the traitor agreed to the warehouse meeting."
"Where is it?"
"I don't know. He hid it separately from the ledger."
Jenna rubbed her forehead.
"Of course he did."
I reached for her hand.
"We'll find it."
She looked at our joined fingers.
"You keep saying 'we.'"
"Because this concerns both of us."
"And because you love me?"
The question landed so suddenly that I forgot how to breathe.
Margaret glanced toward the window, pretending not to hear.
Jenna didn't look away.
I could have lied. I had built an empire on knowing when to reveal the truth and when to keep it buried.
But I was tired of hiding the one thing that mattered most.
"Yes," I said. "I love you."
Her lips parted.
"Since when?"
"Long before you asked me to pretend."
For a moment, she looked as if she might kiss me.
Then her phone rang.
It was Matt.
His voice was frantic.
"Jenna, Mom's gone."
"What do you mean?"
"Someone took her from the house. There's a message on the kitchen table."
Jenna closed her eyes.
"What does it say?"
Matt swallowed.
"They want the ledger."
May you like
Then he added, almost inaudibly:
"And they said if we refuse, they'll send Mom back in pieces."
