Chapter 15 - The Safe
Vale headquarters occupied thirty-two floors of glass and steel.
Getting inside without Marcus knowing was impossible.
Getting inside with a warrant was easier.
By 4:00 p.m., federal agents joined Rachel’s team. The evidence in Anna’s storage unit had triggered a wider financial investigation.
Marcus Vale was now officially wanted for questioning.
Nobody could find him.
That bothered me more than if he had been waiting in the lobby.
Daniel led us to the executive floor.
Behind a framed architectural rendering was an old mechanical safe.
The brass key fit.
Inside were no stacks of cash.
No gun.
No ledger.
Just a cheap prepaid phone and a sealed envelope marked FOR ETHAN.
I opened it.
Ethan,
If you found this, you finally know enough to be dangerous.
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I was afraid you would confront Marcus before I had proof.
You always believed courage meant walking toward the fire.
Sometimes courage means waiting until you know who lit it.
I had to stop reading.
Anna knew me too well.
At the bottom she wrote:
The phone contains a recording that only unlocks on September 14.
Today was September 14.
My wedding anniversary with Anna.
The phone powered on.
One audio file appeared.
I pressed play.
Anna’s voice filled the room.
“Marcus, say it again.”
Then Marcus answered.
“If Ethan signs the revised trust, the girl becomes leverage. Claire can handle him after that.”
Claire went rigid.
Her face lost all color.
“That recording is recent,” she whispered.
I looked at the file metadata.
She was right.
It had been created six weeks ago.
Not three years ago.
Anna could not have recorded it.
Daniel stared at the phone.
“Someone cloned her voice.”
Rachel shook her head.
“No. Listen to the background.”
A woman coughed behind Marcus.
Then another voice whispered something.
A real voice.
May you like
A voice I knew.
Nora’s.
