Chapter 9 - Unit 214
Adrian had no intention of chasing Vanessa with Lily in the car. Instead, he called the detective assigned to the wedding incident, Detective Renee Jackson, and gave her the license plate.
Then he took Lily to Claire's apartment. Claire's new husband wasn't there; she had asked Ethan to stay with his mother until she could decide what to do.
“Do you still love him?” Adrian asked.
Claire folded Lily's spare pajamas. “I loved who I thought he was.”
The answer stayed with Adrian as he drove to the storage facility.
Elaine Porter was seventy, wore bright red glasses, and refused to open a single door until Adrian produced ID, the key, and proof of his relationship to Thomas Bennett.
“Thomas was my friend,” she said. “He made me promise not to hand anything over to the woman who called herself his attorney.”
“Who was that?”
“Patricia Cole.”
The unit was smaller than a bedroom. Inside stood three sealed plastic bins, an old laptop, and a fireproof document case. Adrian used the brass key on the case.
He found property records, bank statements, canceled checks, and a handwritten ledger. Thomas had circled dozens of payments from a foundation supposedly created to support disadvantaged families. The money had gone to shell companies instead.
One name appeared again and again: HALE CONSULTING GROUP.
“Vanessa,” Adrian murmured.
Elaine shook her head. “Keep looking.”
In the last envelope lay a photograph of Thomas with Robert Cole in front of a construction site. On the back Thomas had written: ROBERT TOLD ME TO SAVE EVERYTHING.
A second photograph showed Ethan at the same site, accepting an envelope from a man Adrian didn't recognize.
Adrian opened the laptop. The password hint read: LILY'S FAVORITE SONG.
He typed the name of the music-box melody. The screen unlocked.
A folder labeled INSURANCE contained a single video.
Thomas appeared on-screen, tired and frightened. “If you're watching this, I probably didn't get the chance to tell Nora myself. The foundation is moving money through fake renovations. Robert wanted to stop it. But someone inside the family found out.”
He paused and looked off-camera.
May you like
“Before anything happens to me,” Thomas said, “you need to know that Ethan isn't the one in charge.”
