Chapter 10 - MIDNIGHT AT THE RIVER
The parking structure near the river had been abandoned for years.
Half the lights were broken.
Rainwater dripped through cracks in the concrete ceiling.
Agent Grant positioned officers at every exit.
I entered through the lower level with a microphone hidden beneath my jacket.
My mother waited in an unmarked vehicle outside.
Ethan had told me to come alone.
Technically, I did.
He appeared between two concrete pillars.
His expensive suit was torn.
The bruise from the video covered half his face.
“You brought police.”
“I brought people who might keep you alive.”
He laughed painfully.
“You always did think you were smarter than everyone.”
“Where is the ledger?”
“Where is Mom?”
“Safe.”
“No one in our family is safe.”
He opened his jacket and removed a leather notebook.
I recognized my grandfather’s initials embossed on the cover.
“Give it to me.”
Ethan held it out of reach.
“I want immunity.”
“You stole three million dollars.”
“Dad stole it.”
“Northbridge belongs to you.”
“He created it in my name.”
“You benefited from it.”
His silence confirmed that part.
“Where is Martin Shaw?” I asked.
“I do not know.”
“You recorded a warning.”
“Martin called me.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Dad ordered him to meet at the lake house.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Why?”
“Dad told him they were moving the remaining records.”
My mother’s key felt heavy inside my pocket.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Martin knows where the money went.”
“We know it went into Bennett Technologies.”
“Not all of it.”
“Where did the rest go?”
“Political donations.”
“To whom?”
“Judges.”
“Which judges?”
“Anyone Dad thought he might need.”
Headlights appeared on the upper level.
Ethan looked up sharply.
“That is him.”
An engine roared.
A black SUV came down the ramp without slowing.
It aimed directly at us.
I jumped behind a pillar.
Ethan tried to run.
The vehicle struck his shoulder and threw him across the concrete.
Gunshots echoed as officers fired at the tires.
The SUV crashed into a barrier.
The driver escaped through the passenger side and ran toward the stairwell.
Agent Grant’s team chased him.
I crawled toward Ethan.
He was conscious, but blood ran from his forehead.
“The ledger,” he gasped.
It had fallen several feet away.
I reached it first.
The opening page contained names, account numbers, and dates going back eleven years.
My mother’s signature appeared on the first transfer.
My father’s appeared on dozens more.
Then I found a name I did not expect.
Caroline Hughes.
The dean who had defended me.
Her signature appeared beside a transfer of eight hundred thousand dollars.
Ethan saw my expression.
“You finally found it.”
“Professor Hughes was involved?”
“Ask her.”
“What does this signature mean?”
“She helped Dad hide the first investigation.”
Sirens filled the parking structure.
The driver of the SUV was dragged back in handcuffs.
It was Martin Shaw.
Agent Grant forced him against the hood of a police vehicle.
“Where is Richard Bennett?”
Martin began laughing.
“At the lake house.”
“Why did you try to kill Ethan?”
“I was not trying to kill him.”
He looked at the ledger in my hands.
“I was trying to stop her from reading the final page.”
May you like
I turned to the back of the book.
The final page had been torn out.
