Chapter 6 - THE WAREHOUSE
Leah stared at the address on her phone until the letters blurred.
Alexander took the phone from her hand.
He read the message once.
Then again.
“Forty miles.”
Leah nodded.
“That warehouse belongs to Bellgrave?”
Alexander looked at his chief of staff.
“Used to.”
The man answered immediately.
“It was part of the old logistics division.”
“When was it closed?”
“Five years ago.”
Leah’s heart tightened.
Her father had died six years ago.
Alexander noticed.
“Too close.”
Leah looked at him.
“What?”
“The timing.”
Mrs. Bellgrave gripped the arms of her wheelchair.
“Thomas came here three days before his death.”
Alexander looked toward his mother.
“And one year later that warehouse was closed?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“No.”
Leah looked at the address again.
“But somebody wants us there.”
Vale immediately shook his head.
“That means you don’t go.”
Leah turned toward him.
“Your daughter is being held somewhere connected to Brightwell.”
“And that is exactly why you don’t walk into another trap.”
Alexander looked at security.
“Prepare two vehicles.”
Leah stared at him.
“You’re coming?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to.”
“You really need to stop saying that.”
His tone was quiet.
But final.
Vanessa suddenly stood.
“I’m coming too.”
Alexander looked at her as if she had suggested something ridiculous.
“No.”
Vanessa lifted her chin.
“Mercer used me.”
“That doesn’t make you useful.”
“He also blackmailed me.”
“That makes you compromised.”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
“You need someone who knows how Mercer thinks.”
Alexander stared at her.
“Do you?”
Vanessa held his gaze.
“Yes.”
Mrs. Bellgrave interrupted.
“Take her.”
Alexander turned toward his mother.
“Mother.”
“She is arrogant.”
Vanessa sighed.
“We established that.”
Mrs. Bellgrave ignored her.
“But frightened people make mistakes.”
She looked directly at Vanessa.
“And frightened people also remember things they once convinced themselves were unimportant.”
Vanessa’s expression shifted.
Leah noticed.
“You remember something.”
Vanessa remained silent.
Alexander stepped closer.
“Vanessa.”
She looked at him.
“Mercer once asked me whether your father still kept records off-site.”
Alexander frowned.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“About eight months ago.”
“Why?”
“He said it was for an internal audit.”
Alexander laughed without humor.
“My father has been dead for eleven years.”
“I know.”
“And you didn’t find that strange?”
“I did.”
“Yet you said nothing.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“I was sleeping with a married executive and being blackmailed by my own event planner.”
She spread her hands.
“My judgment was not exactly at its peak.”
Mrs. Bellgrave stared at her.
“At least you are finally becoming honest.”
Vanessa looked away.
Alexander motioned toward security.
“Fine.”
He looked at Leah.
“Vanessa comes.”
Vanessa gave a bitter smile.
“Touching.”
Alexander continued.
“But one wrong move and security removes you.”
“That’s fair.”
Vale stepped forward.
“I’m coming.”
Alexander looked at him.
“No.”
“My daughter is missing.”
“You’re emotionally compromised.”
Vale’s face twisted.
“That’s my child.”
“Exactly.”
Vale moved closer.
“If there’s even a chance this connects to her, I’m going.”
Alexander stared at him.
Then nodded once.
“Fine.”
Twenty-three minutes later, three black SUVs left Bellgrave Palace.
Leah sat in the back seat beside Alexander.
Neither spoke for the first ten miles.
Rain began hitting the windshield.
Leah watched the city lights disappear behind them.
Alexander finally broke the silence.
“How old were you when your father died?”
“Twenty-two.”
“You were close?”
“Yes.”
She swallowed.
“He raised me.”
“Your mother?”
“Died when I was twelve.”
Alexander nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
Leah looked out the window.
“My father used to say grief didn’t need an audience.”
Alexander glanced toward her.
“What did he mean?”
“That some pain becomes worse when everyone wants you to perform it for them.”
Alexander was quiet.
Leah continued.
“So when he died, I went back to work two weeks later.”
“You were twenty-two.”
“I had bills.”
“That isn’t the same thing as being okay.”
Leah looked at him.
“Are you always this irritating?”
“Only when people lie to themselves.”
She almost smiled.
Then the convoy turned onto an unlit industrial road.
The warehouse appeared through the rain.
Huge.
Abandoned.
Black windows.
Rust-covered loading doors.
Alexander’s driver stopped fifty yards away.
Security exited first.
Leah looked through the windshield.
Something felt wrong.
Too quiet.
Too empty.
Then one of the security officers raised a hand.
The team advanced.
Alexander looked at Leah.
“Stay in the vehicle.”
She stared at him.
“You know I’m not doing that.”
“I was hoping you’d surprise me.”
She opened the door.
They entered through a side loading bay.
Dust coated everything.
Broken pallets lay across the concrete.
Old Bellgrave logos were still visible on shipping crates.
Vanessa switched on her phone flashlight.
“This place is disgusting.”
Vale glared at her.
“My daughter may be here.”
Vanessa’s expression softened.
For once, she said nothing.
A security officer called from the far side of the warehouse.
“Mr. Bellgrave.”
Alexander walked over.
A metal chair stood beneath a hanging industrial lamp.
On it sat a cardboard box.
Leah’s name was written across the top.
Her stomach dropped.
Alexander opened it.
Inside was an old leather wallet.
Leah recognized it instantly.
“No.”
She reached inside.
Her father’s driver’s license.
His watch.
A pair of broken reading glasses.
And a bloodstained tie.
Leah stepped backward.
“That tie.”
Alexander looked at her.
“He wore it the day he died.”
Her breathing became shallow.
A small cassette recorder sat beneath the clothing.
Mrs. Bellgrave’s silver key was taped to the top.
Leah stared.
“This was planned.”
Alexander nodded.
“Someone knew she still had the key.”
Leah inserted it into a tiny lock on the recorder case.
The latch opened.
Inside was a memory card.
Alexander handed it to a technician.
Minutes later, an audio file began playing through a tablet.
Static.
Then Thomas Morgan’s voice.
Leah stopped breathing.
“If anyone is hearing this, something has gone wrong.”
Her knees nearly gave way.
She hadn’t heard his voice in six years.
Alexander touched her arm.
She didn’t pull away.
Thomas continued.
“Bellgrave International is being used to move money through charities, construction vendors, and political foundations.”
Alexander’s eyes narrowed.
“Political?”
The recording continued.
“Daniel Mercer is involved.”
Vanessa whispered.
“Jesus.”
“But Mercer is not in charge.”
Everyone went still.
Thomas took a breath.
“The person above him has access to Alexander Bellgrave’s private financial authorizations.”
Alexander’s face changed.
Only five people had that access.
Thomas continued.
“I have copied the ledgers.”
Leah’s heart pounded.
“They are stored somewhere no one inside Bellgrave can reach without my daughter.”
Leah stared at the tablet.
“What?”
Thomas’s voice cracked slightly.
“Leah, if you ever hear this, I’m sorry.”
Her eyes filled.
“I never wanted you involved.”
Alexander looked toward her.
“But there may come a day when you’re the only person I can trust.”
The recording paused.
Then Thomas said a sequence of numbers.
Leah froze.
Alexander noticed.
“What?”
She whispered.
“That’s not a bank code.”
“What is it?”
“My childhood phone number.”
The audio continued.
“Combine it with the date of your mother’s death.”
Leah covered her mouth.
“Dad…”
“And use the place where we used to watch the trains.”
The recording suddenly cut.
Vanessa frowned.
“That’s it?”
The technician shook his head.
“No.”
“There’s another file.”
He pressed play.
Thomas’s voice returned.
This time, panicked.
“He knows.”
Heavy breathing.
Footsteps.
Then Thomas whispered.
“If something happens to me, do not believe the accident report.”
Leah’s hands began trembling.
A door opened somewhere in the recording.
Thomas spoke one final sentence.
“Alexander Bellgrave is not the target.”
Alexander’s expression sharpened.
Then another voice entered.
Male.
Calm.
Familiar.
“You should have stayed out of this, Thomas.”
The audio exploded into static.
Alexander stared at the technician.
“Replay the voice.”
He did.
Again.
“You should have stayed out of this, Thomas.”
Vale suddenly turned pale.
Vanessa looked at him.
“What?”
Vale stepped backward.
“I know that voice.”
Alexander looked at him.
“Whose?”
Vale’s mouth opened.
Then the warehouse lights turned on.
Every light.
At once.
A slow clap echoed from the catwalk above them.
Everyone looked up.
Daniel Mercer stood behind the railing.
Smiling.
And beside him was Vale’s twelve-year-old daughter.
A hand gripped her shoulder.
May you like
Mercer looked down at them.
“You people are remarkably difficult to frighten.”
