Chapter 14 - KHOLE’S LAST SECRET
Khloe had not been kidnapped.
Security footage showed her leaving voluntarily.
Wheelchair.
Coat over her hospital gown.
Private elevator.
Then a waiting car.
Harrison stared at the screen.
“Who picked her up?”
Daniel zoomed in.
The driver stepped out.
Patricia Kensington.
Alive.
Harrison frowned.
“Why would Khloe leave with Vanessa’s mother?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No idea.”
Then Harrison’s phone rang.
Khloe.
“Where are you?”
“Harry.”
“Where are you?”
“I need you to listen.”
“No.”
“Harrison.”
The use of his full name stopped him.
Khloe whispered.
“I know where Mom’s original ledger is.”
Harrison went still.
“How?”
“Patricia has it.”
“What?”
“Her husband worked for Charles.”
Vanessa’s father.
Harrison remembered.
George Kensington had died twelve years earlier.
Khloe continued.
“He kept a copy.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
“Where are you?”
“Old Kensington house.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Khloe.”
“There’s something you need to know first.”
Harrison closed his eyes.
“What?”
“I knew about the baby’s DNA.”
Silence.
“For how long?”
“Before implantation.”
Harrison felt betrayed.
“You knew Charles was the donor?”
“Yes.”
“Why would you use that embryo?”
“Because I needed proof.”
Harrison stared into nothing.
“You used your own pregnancy as evidence?”
“I wanted a child.”
“And I needed to prove what Charles had done.”
“You risked everything.”
“I know.”
“You risked the baby.”
“I didn’t know Richard knew.”
Harrison’s anger rose.
“You should have told me.”
“I was afraid you’d stop me.”
“I would have.”
“I know.”
Silence.
Then Khloe whispered.
“That’s why I didn’t tell you.”
Harrison wanted to scream.
Instead, he asked.
“Why now?”
“Because Patricia found George’s ledger.”
“What’s in it?”
“Names.”
“How many?”
“Hundreds.”
“People involved?”
“Yes.”
“Including Ross?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone else?”
Khloe became quiet.
“Khloe.”
“One name is going to hurt.”
Harrison’s stomach tightened.
“Whose?”
Khloe whispered.
“Judge Evelyn Cole.”
Harrison froze.
Their aunt.
Their father’s sister.
A federal judge.
A woman who had helped raise them after Margaret died.
“What did she do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t move.”
“Harrison—”
“Do not move.”
He hung up.
Forty minutes later, Harrison entered the abandoned Kensington house.
Khloe sat at the dining table.
Patricia beside her.
A leather ledger lay between them.
Harrison walked directly to Khloe.
“You left a hospital after major surgery.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“I know.”
He hugged her.
Carefully.
Khloe started crying against his chest.
For several seconds, they were simply brother and sister again.
Then Harrison opened the ledger.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Judges.
Officials.
Executives.
Police.
Then he found Evelyn Cole.
His aunt.
Payment: $250,000.
Date: three days after Margaret’s death.
Harrison’s stomach turned.
The front door opened.
Judge Evelyn Cole entered.
Seventy-one now.
Silver hair.
Dark coat.
She looked at the ledger.
Then at Harrison.
“I wondered when you’d find that.”
Khloe stood.
“Aunt Evelyn.”
Harrison’s voice was ice.
“You took money.”
“Yes.”
“From Charles Harrington.”
“Yes.”
“After my mother died.”
“Yes.”
Khloe covered her mouth.
Harrison stared at the woman who had attended every birthday.
Every graduation.
Every Christmas.
“Why?”
Evelyn removed her coat.
“Because Charles believed he was buying my silence.”
Harrison frowned.
“You took the money?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I used it to hire Elias Ward.”
Silence.
Harrison stared.
“You funded him?”
“For twenty-three years.”
Everything shifted again.
Evelyn continued.
“Your mother knew she was in danger.”
“She gave me instructions.”
“If she died, I was to pretend I believed the accident report.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
Harrison’s eyes filled.
“You let us believe Dad helped cover it up.”
“No.”
“Richard did that.”
“Richard found fragments.”
“He misunderstood them.”
Khloe whispered.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because Charles had people everywhere.”
“And after Charles died?”
“Richard inherited them.”
Evelyn looked at Harrison.
“I waited until we could destroy the entire network.”
Harrison looked at the ledger.
“Now?”
“Now.”
Patricia suddenly spoke.
“There’s one more page.”
She opened a hidden fold.
A list of payments.
At the bottom was a recent transaction.
Ten million dollars.
Recipient:
V.K.
Khloe stared at Patricia.
“Vanessa?”
Patricia’s face went white.
“No.”
Harrison looked at the date.
Three days before the courthouse attack.
Ten million dollars had been transferred to an account bearing Vanessa’s initials.
Harrison’s phone rang.
County detention.
Vanessa Kensington had been released.
Harrison’s eyes narrowed.
“On whose order?”
The answer came.
Federal emergency protective custody.
Signed by Judge Evelyn Cole.
Everyone turned toward Evelyn.
She looked confused.
“I signed no such order.”
Harrison stared at the forged signature.
Then he understood.
Someone had used Evelyn’s identity.
Someone had moved ten million dollars.
Someone had just removed Vanessa from jail.
And Vanessa knew enough to destroy Richard’s entire network.
Harrison whispered.
“They’re cleaning up witnesses.”
Then Patricia’s phone rang.
She answered.
“Vanessa?”
Her face collapsed.
A terrified voice came through.
“Mom.”
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Vanessa?”
“They put me in a car.”
Harrison grabbed the phone.
“Vanessa, listen to me.”
“Harrison?”
“Yes.”
“Can you see outside?”
“Trees.”
“Road signs?”
“No.”
“Anything.”
Vanessa began crying.
Then she whispered.
“There’s a bridge.”
Harrison looked at Evelyn.
“What bridge?”
Vanessa suddenly screamed.
The phone fell.
A man’s voice appeared.
Then silence.
The call disconnected.
Harrison ran for the door.
Because Vanessa was no longer merely the woman who had pushed Khloe.
May you like
She was the last living witness who could explain what Richard had ordered that morning.
And someone had just decided she would never reach a courtroom.
