Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO FOLLOWED THEM
Conrad Bale contacted me before we found him.
At 2:13 in the morning, the apartment intercom rang.
Security said an elderly man was downstairs asking for me.
“He says his name is Conrad.”
I was dressed and in the elevator within thirty seconds.
Conrad stood in the lobby wearing a dark coat.
He looked older than I remembered.
Smaller too.
But fear can shrink men.
“I need protection.”
I stared at him.
“From whom?”
He almost laughed.
“You know.”
I brought him upstairs.
Mara refused to leave the room.
Conrad saw her and lowered his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Mara’s voice was ice.
“You photographed my children.”
“Yes.”
“You followed us.”
“Yes.”
“You sent messages threatening me.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“Don’t lie.”
“I took photographs.”
His voice shook.
“I reported addresses.”
“But I did not send those messages.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
I watched him.
“Start at the beginning.”
Conrad sat down.
Six years earlier, my mother hired him to locate Mara after she left New York.
“She told me Mara had stolen confidential information.”
“Did you believe her?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Conrad looked at the floor.
“I understood it was personal.”
“Yet you continued.”
“She paid me.”
Mara laughed bitterly.
“Wonderful.”
Conrad flinched.
“I never approached the boys.”
“You made sure their mother lived in fear.”
“I know.”
“Why come here now?”
He looked at me.
“Because Mrs. Whitaker asked me to destroy the old files.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
My pulse changed.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Where are they?”
“In a storage unit in New Jersey.”
Mara crossed her arms.
“What’s in them?”
“Reports.”
“Photographs?”
“Yes.”
“Emails?”
“Some.”
“Recordings?”
Conrad hesitated.
I leaned forward.
“What recordings?”
He swallowed.
“Meetings with Mrs. Whitaker.”
I stared at him.
“You recorded my mother?”
“For my own protection.”
Smart man.
Cowardly.
But smart.
“Why is she destroying evidence now?”
Conrad looked at Mara.
“Because there’s one recording she can’t explain.”
Nobody moved.
“What recording?”
“The night before Mara left New York.”
Mara went still.
Conrad continued.
“Mrs. Whitaker met with a man from Whitaker Communications.”
“What did they discuss?”
“The email account.”
My stomach tightened.
Conrad looked directly at me.
“She told him exactly what message to send Mara from your address.”
Mara gripped the back of a chair.
“And?”
“She also instructed him to block Mara’s messages from reaching you.”
I felt something inside me go silent.
Not anger.
Something beyond anger.
“Where is that recording?”
“New Jersey.”
“We’re going now.”
Conrad shook his head.
“That’s why I came.”
“What?”
“The unit was broken into tonight.”
Mara’s face changed.
“You said you still had the files.”
“I have copies.”
“Where?”
Conrad reached inside his coat.
Security moved immediately.
I raised a hand.
He pulled out a flash drive.
“This.”
I took it.
“Everything?”
“Enough.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
At least that answer was truthful.
“Then why give it to me?”
Conrad looked exhausted.
“Because your mother stopped paying me three years ago.”
“That’s your reason?”
“No.”
He glanced toward the hallway.
One bedroom door stood slightly open.
Milo was watching us.
Conrad saw him.
His expression collapsed.
“My grandson is seven.”
Silence.
“I kept telling myself those boys were wealthy children who would eventually be fine.”
He swallowed.
“Then I saw them sleeping in a car two months ago.”
Mara went pale.
“You saw that?”
“Yes.”
She turned away.
Conrad continued.
“I called Mrs. Whitaker.”
“What did she say?” I asked.
His voice became barely audible.
“She said pressure was necessary.”
Mara closed her eyes.
I gripped the flash drive.
“Get out.”
Conrad stood.
“I’ll testify.”
“You will.”
He nodded.
Then Milo stepped into the room.
“Are you the man who took our pictures?”
Conrad froze.
Milo held his gaze.
“Why?”
The old investigator opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Finally, he whispered.
“Because I was paid to do something wrong.”
Milo considered that.
“Then you should say sorry to my mom.”
Conrad turned toward Mara.
His eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
Mara said nothing.
He left.
Later, Julian decrypted the flash drive.
At 4:06 in the morning, we found the recording.
My mother’s voice came through clearly.
Send the message from Adrian’s account.
Make it final.
The man with her asked a question.
And if he contacts her?
My mother answered without hesitation.
He won’t.
I already changed what reaches him.
Mara covered her mouth.
Then came one final sentence.
Once the babies are born, continue watching her.
If she ever returns to New York, I want to know before Adrian does.
The recording ended.
May you like
For six years, my mother had not feared Mara finding me.
She had feared me finding my sons.
