Chapter 7 - THE CHIEF
Nobody moved.
Chief Reed’s weapon stayed pointed at Tom.
My brother’s hands remained raised.
Peter Sloan sat shaking behind the pillar.
I looked at Reed.
“Answer him.”
“Elena—”
“Did you give Voss Tom’s location?”
“No.”
Tom laughed.
“Careful, Marcus.”
Reed’s jaw tightened.
“I gave the location to Deputy Commissioner Hale.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because Hale was my commanding officer.”
Tom nodded.
“And Hale worked for Voss.”
Reed looked at me.
“We didn’t know.”
“You suspected a leak.”
“Yes.”
“And you still sent Tom’s location up the chain?”
“I followed procedure.”
Tom’s voice turned bitter.
“And six men came to kill me thirty minutes later.”
Reed lowered his weapon.
“I’ve carried that for seven years.”
Tom stepped closer.
“Good.”
I looked between them.
“So you faked your death.”
Tom nodded.
“Someone pulled me out before the car burned.”
“Who?”
“Richard Vale.”
Daniel’s father.
Again.
Every road led back to him.
Tom untied Peter Sloan.
Sloan nearly collapsed.
I caught him.
“Why did you run from the party?”
He looked terrified.
“Because Vanessa was supposed to destroy you publicly, not bring police.”
“You helped forge the records.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“They had my daughter.”
My anger shifted.
“Who?”
“Voss’s people.”
Sloan began crying.
“She’s nineteen. College sophomore. They showed me pictures of her walking to class.”
Tom handed him water.
Sloan continued.
“Vanessa thinks she’s protecting the Vale family name. Voss convinced her your husband was going to destroy everything Richard built.”
“That doesn’t explain forty-two million dollars.”
“It isn’t forty-two.”
Sloan looked at me.
“It’s one hundred eighty-six million.”
Even Chief Reed went still.
“Where?”
“Offshore accounts. Property trusts. Political committees.”
“Controlled by Voss?”
Sloan shook his head.
“Controlled by someone using Richard Vale’s old authorization codes.”
I thought of Daniel.
“No.”
Sloan swallowed.
“Daniel’s signature appears on some of the transfers.”
Chief Reed looked at me.
I stepped back.
“Forged?”
“I don’t know.”
Then headlights swept across the warehouse windows.
A black SUV slammed through the side loading door.
Gunfire erupted.
Officers dove behind equipment.
Tom shoved me down.
Chief Reed returned fire.
Sloan screamed.
The SUV reversed through smoke and broken metal.
Then another vehicle raced away outside.
When the shooting stopped, Peter Sloan was gone.
Daniel’s police SUV was gone too.
I ran outside.
Broken glass covered the pavement.
One officer lay injured beside the curb.
I grabbed his radio.
“Where’s Daniel?”
No answer.
Then my phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered immediately.
“Daniel?”
There was breathing.
Then Vanessa’s voice.
Soft.
Smiling.
“Your husband wants to talk to you.”
A blow sounded.
Daniel groaned.
Vanessa whispered:
May you like
“But first, Elena, you’re going to tell me where Richard Vale hid the ledger.”
---
