Chapter 9
I wanted Rebecca arrested immediately.
That was the first thing I said.
The second was worse.
“I never want to see her again.”
Laura didn’t argue.
Neither did Hale.
The federal agent now leading the scene, Special Agent Nina Brooks, copied every file from Box 317.
She was younger than Hale.
Direct.
No comforting voice.
I liked that.
“Video alone doesn’t prove Rebecca caused the crash,” she told me.
“She removed evidence.”
“It appears she received a component from Charles.”
“What component?”
“We need experts.”
“She knew.”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
Brooks looked at me.
“Ethan, if I tell you something is proven when it isn’t, I become another adult lying to you.”
That shut me up.
I nodded.
She continued.
“What the video proves is that there was potential evidence interference at the tow yard.”
“Enough to arrest them?”
“Enough to act.”
Within an hour, teams were moving in Chicago.
Charles’s office.
Rebecca’s house.
Mr. Harris’s home.
Paul Mercer’s private-security firm.
Victor Lang’s corporate headquarters.
And while everyone moved, David Carter remained missing.
I stared at the phone he had sent me.
“David knew about the box.”
Brooks nodded.
“Apparently.”
“He knew about Samuel.”
“Yes.”
“What if he’s part of it?”
“Possible.”
“What if he sent someone to break in?”
“Possible.”
I hated that answer.
“Do you ever know anything?”
“We know your father was very good at leaving questions.”
That was true.
By late afternoon, we were heading back to Chicago.
I sat in the SUV with Laura.
Hale rode in another vehicle because he had officially removed himself from the investigation.
Before we left, he came to my window.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at him.
“For what?”
“For being another name you had to wonder about.”
“That wasn’t your fault.”
“No. But it happened.”
He handed Laura a business card.
“Brooks is lead now. Don’t contact me about the case unless she approves.”
I looked at him.
“Did you leak Samuel’s identity?”
“No.”
I studied his face.
Then nodded.
“I think Dad believed you.”
Hale swallowed.
“That means more than it should.”
He stepped away.
Halfway to Chicago, Agent Brooks called Laura.
Charles Vance had been arrested.
Not for murder.
Not yet.
For obstruction, evidence tampering, suspected wire fraud, and conspiracy connected to the attempted trust transfer.
Rebecca had also been detained.
Victor Lang had not.
He was gone.
His office said he had flown to London.
Flight records said otherwise.
His private jet had never left Chicago.
Paul Mercer was missing too.
Two dangerous men.
Both suddenly invisible.
When we reached the Patels’ house, three federal vehicles were outside.
George looked through the curtains and said, “Neighborhood association is going to love this.”
Linda smacked his arm.
I almost smiled.
Then Maria arrived.
She had news.
The court had placed me under temporary state protection while my guardianship was reviewed.
I could stay with the Patels if they agreed.
They did.
Immediately.
That surprised me.
“You barely know me,” I said.
Linda looked offended.
“We know you don’t put dishes in the dishwasher.”
“I forgot once.”
“Twice.”
George nodded solemnly.
“Very serious.”
I didn’t know what to say.
So I said thank you.
That night, I finally showered for as long as I wanted.
No Rebecca pounding on the door.
No Troy yelling about the water bill.
No fear that someone would take my backpack if I left it unattended.
I put on clean clothes Laura had arranged for me.
Not expensive.
Just clean.
That felt better.
At 9:40 p.m., the doorbell rang.
Everybody froze.
George checked the camera.
“No one.”
Brooks, who had left an agent outside, rushed to the porch.
There was an envelope.
No one had seen it delivered.
Inside was a photograph.
My father and Rebecca.
They were much younger.
Dad had his arm around her shoulders.
Both laughing.
On the back:
SHE DIDN’T KILL HIM.
Underneath:
ASK HER WHY SHE TOOK THE MODULE.
No initials.
But I knew who I wanted it to be.
“David,” I said.
Brooks wasn’t convinced.
“Could be anyone trying to manipulate you.”
“Can we ask Rebecca?”
“Yes.”
“Tonight?”
“No.”
I gave her a look.
She sighed.
“Morning.”
I didn’t sleep much.
At nine the next day, Laura took me to a federal interview facility.
Rebecca was not in jail clothes.
She wore jeans and a gray sweater.
No makeup.
She looked ten years older.
There was glass between us.
I picked up the phone.
She did too.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered, “You found it.”
“The video.”
Her eyes closed.
“Yes.”
“You were at Dad’s car.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked toward Laura.
“I need to speak to Ethan alone.”
“No,” Laura said immediately.
Rebecca stared at me.
“Please.”
“No.”
She flinched.
I put the photograph against the glass.
“Someone sent this.”
She looked at it.
Her face crumpled.
“Where did you get that?”
“Who took it?”
“David.”
My heart pounded.
“So David sent it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did you take the module?”
Rebecca lowered her eyes.
“Because Charles told me it proved Michael had been drinking.”
“What?”
“He said there was data in the car computer showing Michael was driving recklessly.”
“Dad didn’t drink.”
“I knew that.”
“Then why did you believe him?”
“I didn’t.”
I stared.
“Rebecca.”
She wiped her face.
“Charles called me the night after the crash. He said something was wrong with the vehicle evidence. He said if the police found the control module, they might accuse Michael of intentionally causing the crash.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then.”
She shook her head.
“I was grieving.”
“So you helped him steal evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her voice broke.
“Because he told me if Michael’s death was ruled intentional, the life insurance and trust provisions for you might be challenged.”
I froze.
“You did it for me?”
Her eyes filled.
“At first.”
Two words.
At first.
“What happened after?”
She looked away.
“Charles paid me.”
My stomach turned.
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
I laughed bitterly.
Of course.
There was always money.
“You took fifty thousand dollars the day after your brother died?”
“Three weeks later.”
“As if that’s better?”
“No.”
She pressed her forehead to the glass.
“No, it isn’t.”
I wanted to hate her.
It would have been easier.
But I remembered Dad’s recording.
Rebecca accepted money from one of them.
Maybe she was guilty.
Maybe not of murder.
“What was the module?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Where did it go?”
“Charles took it.”
“Did you ever ask?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He told me to forget about it.”
“Did you?”
“For almost a year.”
“What changed?”
“David came to me.”
My heart sped up.
“When?”
“About ten months after Michael died.”
“What did he say?”
“That Michael’s car had an electronic brake-control system. The module Charles removed recorded error codes and replacement history.”
I remembered David’s last sentence.
Someone replaced the entire control module.
“Did David find it?”
“No.”
“Then how did he know?”
“Samuel told him.”
I leaned closer.
“So Samuel was alive after Dad died.”
“Yes.”
“You said he disappeared.”
“He did.”
“You spoke to him?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“Two days after the funeral.”
Everything kept getting worse.
“What did he say?”
Rebecca started trembling.
“He told me Michael had been killed.”
I stared at her.
“You knew.”
“I didn’t believe him.”
“You knew there was a chance.”
“Yes.”
“And you still stayed quiet.”
She nodded.
“Why?”
“Because he told me the people involved had access to police, banks, lawyers, everything.”
“Victor?”
“He never said the name.”
“Charles?”
“He said not to trust Charles.”
“And you kept Charles as your lawyer?”
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
“I was stupid.”
“No. You were getting money from him.”
She flinched.
“Yes.”
I looked down.
My hand was shaking around the phone.
“Did you ever try to find out what happened to Dad?”
“For a while.”
“What stopped you?”
She looked at me.
“You.”
I stared.
“What?”
“A photograph arrived at my house.”
My skin went cold.
“Of me?”
“You were ten. Walking out of school.”
My anger disappeared.
“On the back it said, ‘Questions make orphans.’”
Laura went still.
Rebecca was crying openly now.
“I stopped asking.”
For the first time, I understood something I didn’t want to understand.
Fear.
Not greed.
At least not only greed.
“You should have told someone.”
“Who?”
“The FBI.”
“Samuel told me someone inside had betrayed him.”
“Hale didn’t.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“You could have told me when I got older.”
“I kept telling myself I would.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
Instead, she took my money.
She threw me out.
She tried to transfer forty-six million dollars.
Fear could explain silence.
It couldn’t explain everything.
“Why did you try to take the trust?”
Her face tightened.
“Because three weeks ago, Charles came to me.”
“What did he say?”
“That your thirteenth birthday would unlock Michael’s final controls.”
“So you wanted the money before I could find the box.”
“He told me if I didn’t transfer it, Victor would.”
“Why would you believe him?”
“Because he showed me documents.”
“What documents?”
“Papers saying Carter Meridian had hidden liabilities. That if the trust activated, lawsuits could drain it.”
“Were they real?”
“I don’t know.”
I laughed.
“You tried to take forty-six million dollars based on papers you didn’t understand?”
“I was going to hold it.”
“In Charles’s account.”
Her face twisted.
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds like stealing.”
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Finally.
No excuse.
No “borrowed.”
No “deserved.”
Just yes.
I leaned back.
“Was Dad a bad person?”
Rebecca looked surprised.
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because everybody tells me a different version.”
She stared at the photograph.
Then she smiled sadly.
“Michael could be impossible.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“He was stubborn. Controlling. He thought being right excused being cruel sometimes.”
That hurt.
“He loved winning arguments more than he should have.”
I listened.
“But he never stole from us.”
Her voice softened.
“He never abandoned us when we were truly in trouble.”
She looked at me.
“And he loved you more than I have ever seen anyone love another person.”
My eyes burned.
“Then why hide all this from me?”
“Because that is exactly what Michael would do.”
I almost smiled.
Rebecca did too.
For one second.
Then Laura’s phone buzzed.
She checked it.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She stood.
“Agent Brooks found Paul Mercer.”
My heart jumped.
“Where?”
Laura looked at me.
“He turned himself in.”
That didn’t sound right.
“Why?”
“He says Victor Lang is trying to kill him.”
Rebecca went pale.
Laura continued.
“And he offered evidence in exchange for protection.”
“What evidence?”
She swallowed.
“The original brake-control module from your father’s car.”
I stood so fast the chair scraped backward.
Rebecca pressed both hands to the glass.
I barely heard her.
Because Laura was still speaking.
“Mercer says it proves the module was replaced six hours before your father crashed.”
My mouth went dry.
“By who?”
“He says the service authorization was signed electronically.”
“By who?”
May you like
Laura stared at me.
“David Carter.”
