Chapter 14 - THE LIST
Leah held the memory chip between two fingers.
No one moved.
Mercer whispered,
“Thomas.”
Eleanor began crying.
“He kept it with her.”
Mrs. Bellgrave looked toward Leah.
“Because no one would search a child.”
Edmund smiled.
“Until now.”
The federal agent stepped forward.
“I need that chip.”
Leah closed her hand.
“No.”
The agent frowned.
“Ms. Morgan.”
“I don’t know you.”
“I’m a federal agent.”
“So were people on Edmund’s payroll.”
Silence.
The agent looked offended.
But not surprised.
Alexander, still handcuffed, smiled faintly.
“She has a point.”
The agent looked toward him.
“This is not helping.”
“It rarely does.”
Mercer stepped forward.
“We verify the agent first.”
The agent sighed.
“Fine.”
For the next twenty minutes, three separate federal offices confirmed his identity.
Then Leah handed over the chip.
But only after Mercer cloned it.
Twice.
Vanessa watched him.
“You really trust nobody.”
Mercer nodded.
“Correct.”
The chip contained one encrypted file.
Leah’s childhood phone number opened the first layer.
Her mother’s supposed death date opened the second.
Then the screen asked one final question.
WHAT DID THOMAS CALL LEAH WHEN SHE WAS AFRAID?
Leah stared.
Eleanor smiled through tears.
“Little Lion.”
Leah entered it.
The file opened.
Hundreds of names filled the screen.
Judges.
Senators.
Executives.
Bankers.
Lawyers.
Foreign intermediaries.
Charity directors.
Police officials.
Edmund’s network was enormous.
The federal agent stared.
“This is bigger than Bellgrave.”
Mercer nodded.
“Much bigger.”
Alexander looked at Leah.
“Your father spent years building this.”
Eleanor whispered.
“With me.”
Leah turned toward her mother.
“You knew about the chip?”
“No.”
“Nothing?”
“Thomas stopped telling me where he stored evidence.”
“Why?”
Eleanor looked toward Edmund.
“Because he believed I had been compromised.”
Leah’s face changed.
“Were you?”
Eleanor didn’t answer.
Leah stared.
“Mom.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Vanessa muttered.
“There’s always another secret.”
Leah’s voice shook.
“What did you do?”
Eleanor looked at her.
“I gave Edmund one file.”
“What file?”
“A list of shell accounts.”
“Why?”
“He had you.”
Leah froze.
“What?”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“When you were thirteen, you disappeared for six hours.”
Leah remembered.
A field trip.
A bus confusion.
Her father telling her she had been mistakenly taken to the wrong school pickup point.
Eleanor continued.
“It wasn’t an accident.”
Leah’s stomach twisted.
“Edmund’s people took me?”
“Yes.”
“He told me if I didn’t give him the accounts, you would disappear permanently.”
Leah whispered.
“So you gave them to him.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad found out.”
“Yes.”
“He stopped trusting you.”
Eleanor’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Leah looked away.
Twenty years of lies.
Every adult had made choices for her.
Her mother.
Her father.
The Bellgraves.
Mercer.
Even Alexander.
Everyone believed protection justified secrecy.
And Leah was the person who had lived inside the consequences.
She looked toward the federal agent.
“Take the file.”
“Copy it.”
“Send it everywhere.”
Edmund suddenly shouted.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Leah stared.
“That’s what you wanted me afraid of.”
Edmund glared.
“You have no idea what happens if those names become public.”
“Good.”
“You’ll destroy institutions.”
“Maybe they deserve it.”
Alexander looked toward Leah.
She continued.
“My father died because everyone kept protecting the system.”
“My mother disappeared because everyone kept protecting the system.”
“Your family spent decades being blackmailed because everyone kept protecting the system.”
She looked toward Edmund.
“So no.”
“I’m done protecting it.”
The federal agent nodded.
“We move.”
Teams began sending the data to protected servers.
Edmund struggled against the agents.
“You stupid girl!”
Leah walked closer.
He glared.
“You think this makes you brave?”
“No.”
“What does it make you?”
Leah looked at him.
“Finished with you.”
Agents dragged him toward the vehicles.
Michael followed in handcuffs.
Alexander remained behind.
The lead agent looked toward him.
“We received updated authorization.”
Alexander lifted an eyebrow.
“And?”
“The arrest warrant is suspended pending review.”
The agent removed his handcuffs.
Vanessa smiled.
“How anticlimactic.”
Alexander rubbed his wrists.
“I’m devastated.”
The agent turned toward Leah.
“Ms. Morgan.”
“Yes?”
“You should understand something.”
“What?”
“Once this file enters evidence, your name will become known to people who do not want it there.”
Leah nodded.
“I understand.”
“You’ll need protection.”
Alexander answered before she could.
“She has it.”
Leah looked at him.
“I can speak.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t volunteer your palace.”
“I was going to volunteer three.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes.
Mrs. Bellgrave smiled.
Eleanor looked between them.
Then toward Leah.
“You trust him?”
Leah paused.
Alexander waited.
“I’m considering it.”
He nodded.
“Progress.”
For the first time in what felt like days, Leah almost laughed.
Then Mercer’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed immediately.
“What?”
Everyone looked toward him.
He listened.
Then went pale.
Leah stepped closer.
“What happened?”
Mercer slowly lowered the phone.
“Edmund wasn’t the final account holder.”
Alexander frowned.
“What?”
“The two hundred and eighty-six million.”
“It just moved.”
Mercer stared at the screen.
“From the frozen holding account.”
Alexander stepped forward.
“That’s impossible.”
“Only one person has the secondary release key.”
Everyone looked at him.
Mercer’s voice dropped.
“Your mother.”
Silence.
Mrs. Bellgrave’s face went white.
Alexander turned slowly.
“Mother?”
She looked at him.
“I didn’t move anything.”
Mercer checked the authorization.
Then looked directly at Eleanor.
“No.”
Leah followed his gaze.
Eleanor stared back.
Mercer whispered.
“The key was used twenty minutes ago.”
Leah’s heart dropped.
Eleanor reached into her coat.
Security moved instantly.
Alexander stepped forward.
“Eleanor.”
She pulled out a small black device.
Leah stared.
“Mom?”
Eleanor’s eyes filled with tears.
May you like
“I’m sorry.”
And she pressed the button.
