Chapter 19 - What Survived
Elena heard about the gunshot four minutes later.
Nobody initially knew who had been hit.
Then Aaron received confirmation.
“Damian is alive.”
Elena closed her eyes briefly.
“Jonathan?”
“Wounded.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
She exhaled.
Good.
Dead men could not testify.
Jonathan Mercer was arrested before sunrise.
Damian was taken to a hospital under federal guard.
Charles Decker began cooperating.
Three Voss executives resigned.
Two were arrested.
Seven Meridian-linked accounts were frozen in Europe.
By noon, governments in four countries had opened investigations.
But Elena felt no victory.
Voss Tower remained blackened by fire.
Hundreds of employees worked remotely.
Her mother remained dead.
Her family history remained poisoned.
And Robert Kane remained missing.
Graham entered with coffee.
“You haven’t slept.”
“Neither have you.”
“I’m less important.”
“That may be the first intelligent thing you’ve said all day.”
He smiled.
Then became serious.
“Jonathan wants to speak to you.”
“No.”
“He says he’ll identify Robert.”
Elena looked up.
“That got my attention.”
Federal agents arranged the meeting.
Jonathan sat behind glass with his arm bandaged.
The polished philanthropist had vanished.
He looked older.
Smaller.
“You won.”
He said.
Elena sat opposite him.
“No.”
“Don’t pretend.”
“You’re under arrest.”
“Meridian isn’t.”
“Give me Robert.”
Jonathan smiled.
“Robert was your mother’s contingency plan.”
Elena frowned.
“Explain.”
“Evelyn knew I existed.”
“She knew David survived?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t she expose you?”
“Because I had evidence against Henry.”
“Henry was dead.”
“His network wasn’t.”
Jonathan leaned forward.
“Your mother and I hated each other.”
“But for seven weeks, we cooperated.”
Elena stared.
“You helped her?”
“I helped myself.”
“What about Robert?”
“He was our courier.”
“Then why kill Shaw?”
“Because Shaw knew Robert had kept something.”
“What?”
Jonathan smiled.
“The part of Atlas Evelyn never gave you.”
Elena’s pulse changed.
“There’s more?”
“One final file.”
“What’s in it?”
“I never saw it.”
“Where is Robert?”
“Ask Graham.”
Elena’s jaw tightened.
“You’re trying to divide us.”
“Of course.”
Jonathan smiled.
“That doesn’t mean I’m lying.”
Elena left without another word.
Back at the command center, she found Graham alone.
“Where’s Robert?”
He looked up slowly.
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“Elena.”
“Jonathan says you do.”
Graham’s expression hardened.
“And you believe Jonathan?”
“I believe everybody lies until evidence proves otherwise.”
He stared at her.
Then sighed.
“Robert contacted me last year.”
Margaret, entering behind Elena, stopped.
“What?”
Graham continued.
“He told me Evelyn left one final instruction.”
“For when?”
“When Meridian became public.”
Elena stepped closer.
“What instruction?”
“Protect Elena from the last file.”
Her anger rose.
“You did it again.”
“I did what your mother asked.”
“My mother is dead.”
Graham’s voice finally rose.
“And I loved her.”
The room went silent.
Elena stared.
Graham immediately looked away.
Margaret seemed stunned.
“You and Evelyn?”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“Not like that.”
“She saved my life.”
“She gave me a career.”
“She trusted me when nobody else did.”
“And when she was dying, she asked me to keep one thing from Elena.”
Elena’s voice became cold.
“What?”
Graham looked at her.
“The identity of the person who actually poisoned her.”
Elena stopped breathing.
“You know?”
“No.”
“But Robert does.”
“Where is he?”
Graham removed an old envelope from his jacket.
“I was supposed to give you this only after Jonathan was captured.”
Elena took it.
Inside was a train ticket.
Grand Central to a small town in upstate New York.
Departure time.
6:40 p.m.
Today.
On the back, Robert had written:
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH.
Margaret immediately shook her head.
“You are not going alone.”
Elena folded the ticket.
“Yes.”
Aaron stepped forward.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You can follow from a distance.”
“That isn’t alone.”
“Then be good at your job.”
At 6:40 p.m., Elena boarded the train.
Two hours later, she stepped onto an almost empty platform surrounded by dark mountains.
Robert Kane waited beneath one yellow lamp.
He held no weapon.
Only a small metal case.
“You came.”
He said.
Elena approached.
“Open it.”
Robert placed the case on a bench.
Inside was one vial.
One photograph.
And one audio recorder.
Elena picked up the photograph.
Her mother stood beside another person.
Elena’s hand began to shake.
“No.”
Robert’s voice was almost gentle.
“I’m sorry.”
May you like
The person standing beside Evelyn was someone Elena had trusted her entire life.
Margaret Voss.
