Chapter 6
For a moment, I couldn’t hear anything except my heartbeat.
“What did you say?”
Thomas breathed into the phone.
“Emily, listen to me.”
“No. Say it again.”
Dad stepped toward me.
I moved away.
Thomas’s voice cracked.
“The car your mother was driving was Daniel’s.”
I looked at Dad.
He looked destroyed.
“That part is true,” he whispered.
“You knew?”
“Emily—”
I held up my hand.
Thomas continued.
“Your father was scheduled to attend the airport meeting that night. He switched plans at the last minute. Margaret took his car.”
My mother.
Margaret Bennett.
I suddenly remembered the photograph from the envelope.
Her hand on my shoulder.
Her smile.
“Who was trying to kill him?”
Thomas didn’t answer.
“Uncle Tommy.”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I swear.”
Dad reached for the phone.
“Give it to me.”
I backed away.
“No.”
Thomas heard him.
“Don’t trust him, Emily.”
Dad laughed bitterly.
“You’re telling her not to trust me?”
“She deserves the truth.”
“You had thirteen years.”
“So did you.”
The words hit Dad.
I stared between the phone and my father.
Two brothers.
Two men I had trusted my entire life.
And suddenly I didn’t know either of them.
“Where are you?” I asked Thomas.
“Safe.”
“Sophie isn’t.”
Silence.
“You know about that?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I’ve been trying to reach Richard.”
Laura leaned toward me.
I put the phone on speaker.
Thomas’s voice filled the room.
“Emily?”
“We can all hear you.”
He cursed quietly.
Dad stepped closer.
“Where is Sophie?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who took her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop lying.”
“I’m not!”
Dad slammed his hand against the table.
“You’ve been feeding Caldwell internal information for over a year!”
Thomas went silent.
That was confirmation.
Dad continued.
“You undermined the Chicago property. You compromised employee files. You conspired to push me out.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Thomas exhaled shakily.
“Richard approached me eighteen months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because the company was overleveraged.”
Dad laughed.
“We were not.”
“Not on paper.”
Laura frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas continued.
“There are liabilities Daniel never told the board about.”
Dad stiffened.
Laura looked at him.
“What liabilities?”
Dad didn’t answer.
Thomas laughed sadly.
“See?”
My patience snapped.
“Stop using me to fight each other!”
Silence.
“I don’t care about the company right now. Where is Sophie?”
Thomas’s voice softened.
“Emily, I genuinely don’t know.”
“Then tell me who might.”
“I think Martin does.”
“Martin sent us the file.”
“What file?”
Dad and Laura exchanged a look.
Thomas heard the silence.
“What file?”
Dad answered.
“The one proving what you did.”
Thomas started swearing.
Then something crashed on his end.
“Uncle Tommy?”
“Where did you get it?”
“Martin.”
“You need to close it.”
“Everybody keeps telling me that.”
“Emily, you don’t understand. Martin isn’t protecting you.”
“Then what is he doing?”
Thomas’s breathing became faster.
“He’s cleaning up.”
Dad’s eyes narrowed.
“Cleaning up what?”
“Everyone who can connect him to Margaret.”
My skin went cold.
“What does Martin have to do with Mom?”
Thomas whispered, “Everything.”
A loud bang sounded through the phone.
Thomas gasped.
“Someone’s here.”
Dad grabbed my arm.
“Thomas, where are you?”
No answer.
“Thomas!”
Another bang.
Then glass breaking.
Thomas whispered, “Oh God.”
“Where are you?”
A door crashed open.
The phone fell.
We heard shouting.
Then a man’s voice.
Too distant to understand.
Thomas yelled.
A gunshot exploded through the speaker.
I screamed.
The call went dead.
Dad snatched the phone.
“Thomas!”
Nothing.
Laura immediately called police.
“Trace the call. Now.”
Dad stood frozen.
For all his anger, that was still his little brother.
I touched his arm.
He looked at me.
“I should have called him sooner.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I knew enough.”
For once, I understood the guilt in his face.
Because I felt the same thing about Sophie.
Police traced Thomas’s call to a private residential tower near Lake Shore Drive.
Officers were dispatched.
We stayed in the security room.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
Then Laura’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed.
“What?”
Dad asked.
She lowered the phone.
“Thomas is alive.”
Dad’s knees nearly gave out.
“What happened?”
“He was shot in the shoulder. Paramedics are taking him to Northwestern Memorial.”
“Who attacked him?”
“They don’t know. The shooter escaped through a service stairwell.”
“Was Thomas alone?”
“Yes.”
Dad grabbed his coat.
“I’m going.”
Laura blocked him.
“Police want you here.”
“That’s my brother.”
“Daniel.”
“He was just shot.”
“So you walking into a hospital full of public access helps how?”
Dad looked ready to explode.
I understood.
Because I wanted to go too.
But she was right.
Again.
I hated how often the correct decision felt like cowardice.
Marcus entered.
“We found Martin.”
My heart jumped.
“Where?”
“Sublevel two.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Dad headed for the door.
Laura followed.
I did too.
Marcus held up a hand.
“Police are with him.”
“Why?”
“He surrendered.”
That stopped us.
“Surrendered?”
“He walked directly up to Officer Grant and said he wanted protection.”
We took the private elevator down.
Martin sat inside a small security interview room with two officers.
He looked terrible.
His expensive suit was wrinkled.
There was dried blood on his collar.
His glasses were cracked.
When he saw me, he closed his eyes.
“Emily.”
Dad stepped in front of me.
“What happened to Sophie?”
Martin looked confused.
“Who?”
“My roommate.”
“I don’t know anything about your roommate.”
I wanted to hit him.
“Someone kidnapped her after you sent us that file.”
His face changed.
“I didn’t know.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not.”
Dad slammed both hands on the table.
“You used my daughter’s childhood nickname as a password.”
Martin looked at him.
“Margaret chose it.”
The air left the room.
“What?”
“Your wife gave me the original archive.”
Dad stared.
“When?”
“Two days before she died.”
I couldn’t move.
Martin looked at me.
“She told me if anything happened to her, I was supposed to protect you.”
My eyes filled.
“You protected me by disappearing for thirteen years?”
He looked ashamed.
“No.”
“Then what did you do?”
“I failed.”
Nobody spoke.
Martin leaned back.
“Margaret discovered an internal kickback operation. At first she thought Thomas was responsible.”
Dad looked at me.
“That matches what she told me.”
Martin nodded.
“But Thomas wasn’t stealing.”
“Then who was?”
Martin looked directly at Dad.
“Richard Caldwell.”
Dad frowned.
“He wasn’t inside our company.”
“No. But his investment firm financed three vendors Bennett Hospitality used. They inflated invoices, kicked money through shell companies, and paid executives for contract access.”
“Which executives?”
Martin looked down.
“Your father.”
I stared at Dad.
“My grandfather?”
Dad looked stunned.
“Arthur?”
Martin nodded.
My grandfather had founded Bennett Hospitality.
He died seven years ago.
The public remembered him as a business legend.
Dad looked like someone had punched him.
“My father hated Caldwell.”
“Publicly.”
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Martin continued.
“Margaret found transfers linked to Arthur Bennett, two regional presidents, and outside vendors. She planned to take everything to federal investigators.”
I whispered, “So somebody killed her.”
Martin’s face tightened.
“I believe someone ordered Daniel’s car sabotaged because they thought Daniel had joined Margaret.”
Dad closed his eyes.
“But Mom drove it.”
“Yes.”
“Who ordered it?”
Martin shook his head.
“I never had proof.”
“Richard?”
“Maybe.”
“Grandpa?”
He didn’t answer.
My stomach twisted.
Dad looked furious.
“You spent thirteen years hiding this?”
“I spent thirteen years gathering proof.”
“And tonight?”
“Tonight everything collapsed because Ryan attacked Emily.”
Martin leaned forward.
“Richard called Kevin immediately after the video went viral. Kevin panicked. Thomas panicked. Everybody started deleting records.”
“Did you threaten Jasmine?”
“No.”
“Did you put that photograph under her door?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed Emily to force Daniel to tell her about Margaret.”
I laughed in disbelief.
“You terrified her.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You sent me a file instead of walking into a police station.”
“Because I didn’t know which law-enforcement contacts were compromised.”
Dad shook his head.
“You sound insane.”
Martin looked at him.
“Your daughter’s roommate was taken within an hour of your deal collapsing. Your brother was shot after calling her. Do I sound insane?”
Nobody answered.
I leaned forward.
“If you didn’t take Sophie, who did?”
Martin was silent for a long moment.
Then he looked toward the officers.
“I need immunity.”
Dad nearly lunged across the table.
“You don’t bargain with my daughter’s life.”
One officer stepped forward.
Martin raised his hands.
“I’m not bargaining. I’m telling you that what I say next implicates me in crimes.”
“What crimes?”
“Illegal surveillance. Unauthorized data access. Payments to confidential sources.”
Laura’s voice was cold.
“Kidnapping?”
“No.”
“Murder?”
“No.”
“Then talk.”
Martin stared at me.
“Richard Caldwell has a private security contractor.”
“What company?”
“Sentinel Meridian.”
Laura immediately wrote it down.
“They handle executive protection,” Martin continued. “But Richard also used them for problems.”
“What kind of problems?”
“Intimidation. Surveillance. Information retrieval.”
My throat tightened.
“People?”
Martin looked away.
“Sometimes.”
Dad’s face became dangerous.
“Where would they take Sophie?”
“I don’t know.”
I slammed my hands onto the table.
“Think!”
Martin flinched.
Then his eyes changed.
“There’s a property.”
“What property?”
“An old Caldwell warehouse near the river.”
Laura frowned.
“Address?”
“I don’t know the number.”
“Where?”
“South Branch. Industrial corridor. It was used for records storage before Caldwell Capital moved everything digital.”
Dad looked at the officer.
“Can you find it?”
The officer was already calling.
My phone buzzed.
Another message from the kidnappers.
A photograph of Sophie.
This time there was a digital clock beside her.
9:14 PM.
Current time.
Below it:
WE KNOW MARTIN IS TALKING.
Then another.
ONE HOUR.
Then another.
BRING THE SIGNED ACQUISITION DOCUMENTS.
COME ALONE, EMILY.
I stared at the screen.
Dad read it over my shoulder.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“They want me.”
“You’re not going.”
“They’ll kill her.”
“We involve police.”
“They said alone.”
“Of course they did.”
Martin suddenly stood.
Everyone tensed.
“Wait.”
He pointed at the picture.
“Zoom in.”
I opened it.
“What?”
“The wall.”
Behind Sophie was a faded red symbol.
A circle with an M inside it.
Martin stared.
“That isn’t the Caldwell warehouse.”
“Then where?”
His face went pale.
“It’s a Bennett property.”
Dad frowned.
“What?”
“Old laundry facility. We closed it nine years ago.”
Laura was already searching.
Dad whispered the address before she found it.
“West 33rd.”
Martin nodded.
“They aren’t Caldwell people.”
My blood turned cold.
“Then who are they?”
Martin looked at Dad.
“That property is still controlled by Bennett corporate operations.”
Dad’s face changed.
“Thomas.”
Martin shook his head.
“Thomas was just shot.”
“Then who?”
Martin stared at the photo.
“There’s only one person besides Thomas who controls dormant Bennett properties.”
Dad slowly sat down.
“Who?”
Martin looked at him.
“Your chief operating officer.”
Laura’s face went white.
Susan Hart whispered the name.
“Elaine Mercer.”
I knew Elaine.
Everyone did.
She had been beside my father for almost twenty years.
She spoke at Mom’s funeral.
She sent me birthday presents every year.
She was the closest thing I had ever had to an aunt.
And at that exact moment, Dad’s phone began ringing.
The screen showed her name.
ELAINE.
Dad answered.
Nobody breathed.
May you like
Elaine’s calm voice came through the speaker.
“Daniel, I think it’s time we stop pretending you’re still in control.”
