Chapter 8 - THE ARCHITECT
Judge Evelyn Morgan had served on the county court for seventeen years.
She was respected.
Powerful.
And almost untouchable.
Her signature appeared on the order allowing Richard temporary control of Claire’s financial affairs.
Normally, such an order required review.
Morgan approved it in less than twenty minutes.
Bennett began comparing old cases connected to Victor Cole.
A pattern emerged.
Missing records.
Sealed documents.
Unexpected dismissals.
Morgan’s name appeared repeatedly.
Claire stared at the evidence.
“So she protected them.”
“For years.”
Bennett nodded.
“But proving it is another matter.”
They needed Richard.
Or Rebecca.
Someone inside the conspiracy had to testify.
That evening, Ethan sat beside his mother’s hospital bed.
He couldn’t sleep.
Every sound in the hallway made him look toward the door.
Claire noticed.
“You’re safe here.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You told me Richard was safe.”
Claire had no answer.
After a moment, she reached out.
“I was wrong about him.”
“Why did you marry him?”
“Because he was good at pretending.”
Claire sighed.
“He listened.”
“He remembered everything I said.”
“He made me feel like I wasn’t alone.”
Ethan stared at his shoes.
“Was any of it real?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer scared Ethan more than anything.
Because Richard had lived with them for five years.
He had attended school events.
He had cooked breakfast.
He had helped Ethan build a science project.
A monster would have been easier to understand.
Richard had looked ordinary.
Kind, sometimes.
That night, Ethan remembered something else.
Three weeks earlier, Richard had taken him fishing.
During the drive, Richard asked a strange question.
“If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go?”
Ethan had answered Mexico because his friend had visited Cancún.
At the time, Richard laughed.
Now Ethan understood.
Richard had been planning.
Bennett checked Richard’s phone records from that day.
One call stood out.
Immediately after the fishing trip, Richard called Victor Cole.
The conversation lasted forty-three seconds.
Ethan’s destination ticket had been purchased thirty minutes later.
“He used me.”
Ethan’s voice shook.
Claire reached for him.
“No.”
“He asked where I wanted to go because he was planning to take me.”
Bennett entered with another officer.
“We found Richard.”
Everyone turned.
“Where?”
“He used a credit card at a gas station outside Fort Collins.”
Claire sat upright.
“That’s north.”
Bennett nodded.
“And there’s only one reason we can think of for him to go there.”
May you like
She placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Samuel Parker’s abandoned mountain house.
