Chapter 14: The Grand Jury
Chapter 14: The Grand Jury
Evelyn didn't cry.
Not when Benjamin finished reading Judge Whitmore's affidavit.
Not when she learned Richard's death had been planned.
Not even when Hannah reached across the table and took her hand.
She simply stared at Richard's wedding ring resting in her palm.
For twenty-three years, she had believed fate had stolen her husband.
Now she knew the truth.
Someone had taken him away.
And someone had spent decades making sure no one asked why.
The next morning, Benjamin Ross stood before the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
A dozen prosecutors filled the conference room.
Stacks of evidence covered the table.
The hidden ledgers.
Michael Reeves's testimony.
Maria Alvarez's statement.
Edward Holloway's confession.
Judge Whitmore's affidavit.
And finally...
Richard Carter's recovered files.
The lead prosecutor closed the last folder.
"This is enough."
Benjamin looked up.
"For what?"
"To convene a federal grand jury."
Silence settled over the room.
Twenty-three years after Richard Carter's investigation had been buried...
It was alive again.
By noon, sealed subpoenas were issued.
Former executives.
Bank officers.
Lobbyists.
Three outside auditors.
Two state regulators.
Everyone connected to Blackwood's financial network was ordered to testify.
The news spread quickly.
By evening, television commentators called it:
The Largest Financial Corruption Investigation in Illinois History.
Across the city...
Grant Holloway sat in a nearly empty office.
Most of the furniture had already been removed.
The board had changed the electronic locks.
His company laptop had been confiscated.
He was no longer CEO.
He wasn't even allowed into the executive floors without permission.
For the first time since inheriting his father's empire...
Grant was unemployed.
His attorney entered quietly.
"You have a visitor."
"I told everyone to leave."
"This one refused."
A woman stepped inside.
Elegant.
Gray-haired.
Impeccably dressed.
Grant had never seen her before.
She closed the door behind her.
"My name doesn't matter."
Grant frowned.
"Then why are you here?"
She smiled politely.
"I'm here on behalf of Blackwood."
Grant's heart began to race.
"So it does exist."
"Oh, Mr. Holloway..."
"It has always existed."
She sat across from him.
"You and your family performed useful services."
"Useful?"
"You moved money."
"You opened doors."
"You signed documents."
Grant stared.
"My father said we were partners."
The woman almost laughed.
"No."
"You were employees."
She slid a small envelope across the desk.
Inside was a passport.
Several thousand dollars in cash.
And a one-way airline ticket.
Grant looked confused.
"What is this?"
"A chance."
"To run?"
She nodded.
"If you stay..."
"...you'll testify."
"If you testify..."
"...you'll expose us."
Grant looked up.
"And if I refuse?"
The woman's smile disappeared.
"Then you'll discover why Edward Holloway spent thirty years obeying people he'd never met."
She stood and walked toward the door.
Without looking back, she added,
"You have until midnight."
Meanwhile...
Benjamin received unexpected news.
Daniel hurried into his office.
"The laboratory found fingerprints."
"On what?"
"The waterproof cylinder from the oak tree."
Benjamin frowned.
"Richard's?"
"No."
Daniel handed him the report.
"There was one modern print."
Benjamin read the name twice.
His face hardened.
"It can't be."
The fingerprint belonged to someone who had handled the cylinder less than a month earlier.
Someone with full access to federal evidence.
Special Agent Victor Kane.
Benjamin slowly looked up.
"One of ours."
An emergency internal investigation began immediately.
Victor Kane's office was empty.
His computer had been wiped.
His service weapon was gone.
His apartment had been abandoned.
He had disappeared six hours earlier.
Daniel slammed his fist onto the desk.
"He's the leak."
Benjamin nodded grimly.
"He knew about the tree."
"He knew about the warehouse."
"He knew everything."
That evening...
Evelyn closed the diner early.
She and Hannah visited Richard's grave.
The cemetery overlooked a quiet hill outside the city.
Fresh flowers already rested beside the headstone.
Neither of them had brought any.
Someone else had visited first.
Hannah noticed an envelope tucked beneath the bouquet.
"Mom..."
Evelyn carefully opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed Richard Carter standing beside Victor Kane.
Both wore federal jackets.
Written on the back were six words.
He was like a son.
Benjamin arrived moments later.
His expression told Evelyn everything before he spoke.
"Kane has vanished."
She handed him the photograph.
Benjamin stared at it.
"I don't understand."
Richard had mentored Victor during his first year in the bureau.
He had trusted him.
Like family.
Benjamin slowly closed his eyes.
"Richard saved his career."
Daniel whispered,
"And twenty-three years later..."
"...he betrayed him."
Just before midnight...
Security cameras captured Victor Kane entering a private airfield outside Chicago.
A sleek black jet waited with its engines running.
Victor climbed the stairs without hesitation.
As the cabin door closed, a voice came from the shadows inside.
"Did they find the memory card?"
Victor nodded.
"They recovered most of it."
"And the list?"
Victor hesitated.
"I erased it."
The unseen passenger remained silent for several moments.
Then spoke.
"You've served us well."
Victor finally allowed himself to relax.
"So I'm free?"
The passenger stepped forward.
His face remained hidden in the darkness.
"No."
"You know too much."
Victor's smile disappeared.
"What?"
A suppressed gunshot echoed through the cabin.
The jet door closed.
Minutes later...
The aircraft lifted into the night sky.
By the time authorities discovered Victor Kane had boarded the plane...
He was already dead.
And with him died the only man who had ever seen the faces of Blackwood's inner circle.
May you like
Or so they believed.
End of Chapter 14
