Chapter 4 - The Man in the Tunnel
Darkness swallowed the station corridor.
Daniel drew his gun.
“Stay behind me.”
Footsteps rushed across the concrete.
A flashlight beam flashed near the stairs.
Someone struck the transit supervisor from behind.
The man collapsed.
Daniel shouted.
“Police!”
The intruder ran.
Ethan chased the shadow through the corridor.
The figure shoved through a maintenance door and disappeared into an abandoned service tunnel.
Ethan followed.
Water dripped from the ceiling.
His shoes slipped across the damp concrete.
Ahead, the intruder carried the black leather briefcase.
“Stop!”
The man glanced back.
He wore a gray cap and a dark work jacket.
For one second, Ethan saw his face.
It was Lucas Grant.
Head of security for the Whitmore family.
Lucas had protected Ethan since he was a teenager.
He had stood at Thomas’s grave.
He had driven Eleanor home from the police station less than two hours earlier.
“Lucas!”
The security chief did not stop.
He reached the end of the tunnel and climbed into a waiting vehicle.
The van sped away before Ethan could reach the street.
Daniel emerged behind him.
“Did you recognize him?”
Ethan nodded.
“My mother’s head of security.”
They returned to the locker.
The cassette recorder remained on the floor.
The photograph was still inside Ethan’s pocket.
But Lucas had taken the ledgers and bank records.
Daniel called for officers to search the area.
Ethan called the Whitmore estate.
No one answered.
He tried Lucas directly.
The number had already been disconnected.
Then Ethan called Victor Hale.
Victor answered on the fourth ring.
His voice sounded calm.
“Ethan.”
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Turn on your camera.”
A pause followed.
“This is not an appropriate hour.”
“My father named you on a recording.”
Silence.
Ethan continued.
“He said you were involved in planning his accident.”
Victor exhaled slowly.
“Grief can make people hear what they expect to hear.”
“My father recorded your voice.”
“Then I suggest you speak with an attorney.”
The call ended.
Daniel took the cassette recorder.
“I’ll have the audio authenticated.”
“What about Lucas?”
“We find him before he reaches your mother.”
“He already reached her.”
Ethan knew it with absolute certainty.
The attack had not been improvised.
Eleanor had known about Union Station.
She had known when they would arrive.
Someone was watching Claire’s hospital room.
Someone had followed Ethan.
He returned to the hospital before dawn.
Claire was awake.
The white lilies had been removed.
Ethan showed her the photograph.
She stared at the burned face of the woman standing beside Thomas.
“I know this cabin.”
“Where is it?”
“Lake Mercer.”
“My mother used to clean houses there when I was a teenager.”
Claire turned the photograph over.
Her hand began trembling.
“What is it?”
She pointed to a faint reflection in the cabin window.
The image was distorted.
But a human face could be seen behind the glass.
A man was watching Thomas and the woman from inside.
Claire brought the photograph closer.
“Oh my God.”
“Who is it?”
May you like
She looked up at Ethan.
“That’s Lucas Grant.”
