Chapter 18 - The Brother Nobody Buried
The SUV disappeared before Marcus reached the road.
But the cameras caught the driver.
Silver hair.
Thin face.
Dark glasses.
Not Samuel.
Close enough to fool someone who hadn’t seen him in decades.
Simon Hale was alive.
According to Samuel, Simon had always been the dangerous one.
Not because he was violent.
Because he believed morality was a weakness invented by people without leverage.
Edward Hale raised both twins around the company.
Samuel questioned him.
Simon worshipped him.
When Edward began secretly recording relatives, employees, lawyers, and politicians, Simon helped catalog the footage.
Blackmail became a business asset.
Arthur eventually discovered it.
He shut much of the system down.
Simon refused.
The brothers fought.
Then Simon disappeared after a boating accident.
No body recovered.
Samuel assumed he was dead.
Arthur apparently did not.
“Why didn’t Arthur tell you?”
I asked.
Samuel looked ashamed.
“We weren’t speaking.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted the entire Hale archive destroyed.”
“And Arthur?”
“He believed some of it was evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
“Edward’s crimes.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“And Samuel wanted to burn it because his own name was in the files.”
Samuel turned toward him.
“Yes.”
That surprised everyone.
Samuel continued.
“When I was young, I helped my father.”
“What did you do?”
Margaret asked.
“I delivered money.”
“To whom?”
“People Edward wanted quiet.”
Samuel looked at me.
“Your father found some of those records.”
“Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“Did you meet him?”
“Many times.”
My throat tightened.
“Did he trust you?”
“No.”
Samuel almost smiled.
“He was very smart.”
“Did you send me the messages?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“I think Simon.”
“Why help me?”
“He isn’t helping you.”
“He led us to Evan.”
“He moved you.”
“Toward what?”
Samuel looked at everyone in the farmhouse.
“This.”
A room containing nearly every person connected to the Hale trust.
Margaret.
Daniel.
Vanessa.
Richard.
Noah.
Evan.
Marcus.
Elena.
Me.
Samuel.
A perfect collection of witnesses and heirs.
Marcus understood.
“He wanted everyone in one place.”
Samuel nodded.
“Why?”
Then the power went out.
Daniel reached for me.
Marcus shouted.
“Everybody stay where you are.”
Emergency lights came on.
A second later, smoke began appearing beneath the kitchen door.
“Fire.”
Marcus moved instantly.
We exited through the rear.
No panic.
No running where I could fall.
Daniel kept one arm around me.
Noah helped Vanessa.
Marcus got Margaret outside.
The fire wasn’t large.
It had been set in a detached electrical room.
A distraction.
When the firefighters arrived, everyone was accounted for.
Except Richard.
Detective Cole swore.
“He was under supervision.”
Marcus looked around.
“So was Simon watching.”
We found Richard’s escort vehicle empty.
One officer unconscious but breathing.
No Richard.
No Simon.
On the windshield was a note.
HE OWES ME FORTY YEARS.
Samuel read it.
His face changed.
“This isn’t about the trust anymore.”
“What is it about?”
I asked.
“Edward.”
“Edward is dead.”
“Yes.”
“But what?”
Samuel looked at Richard’s empty car.
“Simon believes Richard knows where Edward hid the master archive.”
“Master archive?”
“All the original recordings.”
Marcus went pale.
“How many?”
“Thousands.”
“Of the family?”
“Not only family.”
“Who else?”
“Politicians.”
“Executives.”
“Judges.”
Samuel nodded.
“Anyone Edward believed might become useful.”
My stomach tightened.
“If Simon gets it?”
“He controls people who may not even know they were recorded.”
Detective Cole asked.
“Where did Edward hide it?”
Samuel shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Arthur?”
“Maybe.”
I thought of the chandelier.
The cellar.
The music box.
Arthur had turned his father’s surveillance obsession into a breadcrumb trail.
He had wanted somebody to find evidence.
Not blackmail.
Evidence.
Noah approached me.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“My grandfather.”
“Arthur?”
He nodded.
“Samuel said Arthur found me.”
“Yes.”
“Did he ever meet me?”
Samuel answered.
“Once.”
Noah looked at him.
“When?”
“You were nine.”
“I don’t remember.”
“You met a man at a library.”
Noah’s face changed.
“Mr. Gray.”
Samuel nodded.
“That was Arthur.”
Noah stared.
“He gave me a book.”
“What book?”
“The Count of Monte Cristo.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“That sounds like Dad.”
Noah thought.
“There was writing inside.”
“What writing?”
“I still have it.”
He went upstairs.
Returned with an old copy.
Inside the cover Arthur had written:
To Noah.
Never confuse inheritance with identity.
What belongs to you is not always what defines you.
A.H.
Below it was a sequence of numbers.
Marcus stared.
“Another code.”
Noah handed me the book.
I recognized the format.
Page.
Line.
Word.
A book cipher.
We decoded it.
The message:
THE ARCHIVE IS WHERE EDWARD COULD SEE THE WHOLE CITY WITHOUT BEING SEEN.
Daniel frowned.
“Where?”
Margaret’s eyes widened.
“The tower.”
“What tower?”
“Hale Tower.”
The original headquarters.
Built by Edward.
The highest office on the forty-seventh floor had been sealed since Arthur moved the company.
Samuel stood.
“If Simon has Richard, that is where he’ll go.”
Marcus checked his phone.
“Richard’s vehicle just triggered a plate reader.”
“Where?”
“Downtown.”
Daniel looked at me.
“You’re staying here.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“I am not arguing.”
“You were pushed down stairs two days ago.”
“Yes.”
“You are pregnant.”
“I noticed.”
“This isn’t safe.”
I looked at him.
“Nothing has been safe since I married into your family.”
Vanessa winced.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then nodded.
“Fine.”
We drove toward Hale Tower.
Halfway there, my phone vibrated.
Unknown sender.
One sentence.
BRING THE ORIGINAL DRIVE OR RICHARD DIES.
May you like
Then another.
AND CLAIRE COMES ALONE.
