Chapter 9 - THE WALL
The old theater smelled of mildew, dust, and fear.
Marcus Jr. was already in an ambulance, shaken but unharmed. Marcus climbed in beside him without apology to anyone.
Evelyn stayed with detectives.
Lucas should have been at the hotel, but he refused to leave her side until she finally stopped arguing.
The photograph wall covered an entire backstage office.
Evelyn.
Lucas.
Rachel Bennett.
Charles Cross.
Foundation trustees.
Bank officers.
A federal prosecutor.
Red lines connected faces to addresses, schedules, and vehicle information.
“This isn’t panic,” Detective Lena Ortiz said. “It’s planning.”
Lucas stared at a photo of his mother taken outside a clinic.
“She knew they were watching her.”
Evelyn felt sick.
On a desk sat a burner phone and a stack of printed emails.
One email was from Diane.
P: The boy is irrelevant unless Rachel gave him the key. E cannot know what Charles discovered. Handle it before the gala.
Evelyn read it twice.
“E is me.”
Ortiz nodded. “Looks that way.”
Lucas pointed to another message.
“What does ‘contingency’ mean?”
Evelyn read the line.
If Vale fails, contingency remains inside Cross security.
She looked at Detective Ortiz.
“Inside security?”
Ortiz immediately radioed officers at the gala.
No answer from one guard.
Then another.
Evelyn called the hotel manager.
He picked up whispering.
“Something’s wrong. The ballroom doors just locked.”
“From which side?”
“Inside.”
Evelyn’s heart hammered.
“Where is Diane?”
“I don’t know.”
A fire alarm suddenly screamed through the phone.
Guests began shouting in the background.
The manager yelled, “Smoke! There’s smoke near the west corridor!”
Detective Ortiz was already running.
Evelyn grabbed Lucas’s hand.
“No,” Ortiz snapped. “The boy stays with an officer.”
Lucas pulled back. “Evelyn—”
“She’s right. Stay here.”
For once, he listened.
As Evelyn ran toward the exit, her phone buzzed with a text from Diane.
COME ALONE TO YOUR FATHER’S OFFICE IF YOU WANT THE BALLROOM DOORS OPEN.
May you like
Under it came a second message.
AND BRING THE BLUE LEDGER.
