Chapter 16 - Twelve Minutes to Noon

There was no time to organize a heroic rescue. No time to send somebody else's brother or mother into danger. We had a building, two hostages, and a clock.

"We call emergency services," I said. "No guessing. No lone-wolf garbage."

Eli nodded and passed me his phone. He had already sent the video and location evidence to a state investigator he trusted. Jo shared the same files with two newsrooms and scheduled a public release if she didn't cancel it by noon.

"That is an ugly little insurance policy," Adrian said.

"My specialty," Jo replied.

We parked two streets from the warehouse. Police sirens sounded somewhere across the river, too far away for comfort. Jo used a camera drone belonging to her old station to look over the roof. The loading bay stood open. Two guards were outside, one on a phone, the other smoking.

"What if they see us?" Mateo asked.

"Then we don't go in," I said. "We've spent too long acting like proof only counts if somebody gets hurt getting it."

Adrian looked at me with something like respect. I was surprised how little I needed it.

A black car pulled up to the warehouse. Vanessa climbed out wearing a cream suit and sunglasses, though the sky had turned gray. She went inside without talking to the guards.

"She's running it," Adrian said.

"Maybe," I replied. "Or maybe her father sent her to clean up."

My phone rang. Conrad.

"You're late," he said.

"Where's my mother?"

"Alive. Ruth too. I need you to listen very carefully. Vanessa doesn't know what she's holding. She thinks that if she destroys the evidence, she can save the wedding and the foundation. But the warehouse isn't hers to control."

"You expect me to believe you're helping?"

"No. I expect you to survive."

A sharp sound cut through the line. Not a gunshot. A heavy metal door slamming.

Conrad began to speak again, lower this time. "Mara, the person behind Pelican Harbor isn't Vanessa. He's standing beside you."

I looked at Adrian, Mateo, Eli, then Jo.

"Who?" I demanded.

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The call broke off.

Across the street, Eli quietly put away a second phone. His screen showed the same encrypted call symbol Conrad had just used.