Chapter 10 - THE RED TABLET
Mason sat down without speaking.
In all the years I had known him, I had seen him wounded, exhausted, furious, and once so sick with pneumonia that he could barely stand.
I had never seen his face empty like that.
Frank Delaney had been his friend too.
Before we knew he was dirty.
Before we knew he sold Luis Ortega's location.
Before Christine whispered that his death had been staged.
I kept the phone on speaker.
"What video?"
Christine took a breath.
"Dad and Frank."
"Where?"
"A marina."
Mason looked at me.
Delaney's body had been recovered from the Chesapeake after his boat was found adrift.
The official conclusion was accidental drowning after alcohol consumption.
No witnesses.
No foul play.
"What happens in the video?" I asked.
Christine's voice dropped.
"They're arguing."
"About what?"
"You."
I felt the room narrow.
"Me?"
"Frank says Dad promised you would never learn about the payments."
"Then?"
"Dad says you were getting too close."
Mason's hand tightened around the edge of the table.
"And then?"
Christine began crying again.
"Dad hits him."
"With what?"
"I don't know. Something metal."
"Does the video show him going into the water?"
"Yes."
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Detective Shaw wrote something quickly and passed the paper to Perez.
Trace active call.
Perez nodded and left.
"Christine," Shaw said, "this is Detective Shaw."
"I know."
"You need to tell me where the tablet is."
"Not over the phone."
"Then give me a location where you can safely meet officers."
"I don't trust everyone."
"Who don't you trust?"
"I don't know."
"That's not enough."
"Dad always knew when police were coming."
Mason leaned closer to the phone.
"She's right."
Shaw looked at him sharply.
Christine heard his voice.
"Mason?"
That shocked me.
"You know him?"
Christine did not answer.
Mason leaned toward the speaker.
"Christine."
His voice was quiet.
"Where did you see my name?"
Silence.
"On Dad's files."
"How long ago?"
"Before I met Michael."
Mason closed his eyes once.
"Did Raymond ever order you to approach me?"
"No."
"Did he order you to approach Michael?"
Another silence.
My heart began pounding.
"Yes."
One word.
Eleven years of marriage shifted underneath it.
I stood and walked toward the window because sitting still became impossible.
Christine continued quickly.
"Michael, I was twenty-three."
"You were twenty-six when we met."
"He started preparing me before that."
"Preparing you for what?"
"To get close to you."
I looked at the reflection of my own face in the dark glass.
"Why?"
"Because he was afraid you would reopen the Bellwether investigation."
"I had already left."
"He didn't believe you would stay gone."
Mason muttered something under his breath.
Raymond had been right about that.
Just not for the reason he expected.
"Were you supposed to marry me?"
"No."
"Were you supposed to sleep with me?"
"Michael."
"Answer me."
"No."
"What were you supposed to do?"
"Watch you."
"Report who I called?"
"Yes."
"Who I met?"
"Yes."
"Whether I talked to Mason?"
"Yes."
"How long did you do it?"
"Less than a year."
"You wrote Raymond after we moved in together."
She went quiet.
"The police found the letters."
"I know."
"How do you know?"
"Dad told me they found the room."
Shaw immediately mouthed another question.
HOW?
I asked it.
"How does Raymond know what police found?"
"I don't know."
"You said he monitors police."
"Not like that."
"Then someone is telling him."
Christine began breathing faster.
"Michael, listen to me."
"I'm listening."
"There is someone inside the department."
Shaw froze.
"Who?"
"I don't know his name."
"Man or woman?"
"Man."
"Rank?"
"I don't know."
"What do you know?"
"Dad calls him Bluebird."
Shaw's face changed.
Not much.
Enough.
I saw it.
So did Mason.
"You know that name," I said.
Shaw ignored me.
"Christine, when did you last hear Raymond mention Bluebird?"
"Tonight."
"Exact words."
"He said Bluebird would handle the house."
Shaw went pale.
"The warrant."
Mason understood first.
"Someone on the search team."
Shaw grabbed her radio.
Then stopped.
If the department had a leak, broadcasting concern over the radio would warn the leak.
She pulled out her personal phone instead.
Called one number.
"Captain Ross, I need you off radio."
She stepped into the hallway.
I stayed on the call with Christine.
"Where is the tablet?"
"I hid it somewhere Dad doesn't know."
"Where?"
"I can't tell you until I'm sure."
"Sure of what?"
"That Jake is safe."
Anger flared.
"You do not get to use Jake as the condition now."
"I'm not."
"You watched them hurt him."
"I know."
"You lied to police."
"I know."
"You blamed him."
Her sob came through the phone.
"I know."
I forced my voice down.
"Then stop protecting yourself."
"I'm trying to protect him."
"You failed."
Silence.
I regretted the sentence the second it left my mouth.
Not because it was false.
Because cruelty was easy when the target already hated herself.
Christine's voice changed.
Smaller.
"You're right."
I closed my eyes.
"Christine-"
"I failed him."
"Bring the tablet in."
"I will."
"Now."
"I need one thing first."
"What?"
"Promise me you won't let Dad take him."
I looked through the glass at Jake.
"He will never get near Jake again."
"Promise me."
"I promise."
She breathed out.
"There is a storage unit on Creek Road."
Shaw returned just in time to hear it.
"Number?"
"Two-seventeen."
"Code?"
"Jake's birthday."
That hurt in a new way.
"The tablet is there?"
"Inside a green toolbox."
Shaw was already writing.
"Do not go there yourself," Christine said.
"Why?"
"Because Dad knows about the unit."
Shaw stopped.
"You just said he didn't know where the tablet was."
"He doesn't."
"But he knows about the storage unit."
"Yes."
"Then why hide it there?"
"Because I didn't."
We all froze.
"What?"
Christine's breathing became ragged.
"I put a copy there."
"A copy of the data?"
"Yes."
"Where is the original?"
"With me."
Shaw leaned toward the phone.
"Christine, I need you to come in."
"I can't."
"Why?"
A sound came through the line.
A door.
Then Christine whispered,
"Because I think he found me."
We heard footsteps.
Not hers.
Heavy.
Slow.
Christine's breathing stopped.
"Michael..."
"Where are you?"
"I'm sorry."
"Christine, tell me where you are."
The footsteps came closer.
Then a male voice sounded in the background.
Calm.
Familiar.
Raymond.
"Who are you talking to?"
May you like
The call ended.
