Chapter 6 - A Dead Man’s Voice
Emily stared at Mara.
“My grandfather died when I was nine.”
Mara said nothing.
Adrian took the tablet from his daughter and replayed the audio.
The same sentence filled the garage.
He knew that voice.
He had heard it praise him when he graduated from college.
He had heard it tear him apart when he refused to join the family business.
He had heard it weaken in a hospital room eleven years earlier.
“Dad?” Emily whispered.
Adrian looked at Mara.
“Tell me.”
She glanced toward the open garage door.
“Not here.”
He grabbed her arm.
“Tell me now.”
Mara pulled free.
“Your father’s death certificate was real.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“He died legally.”
Emily blinked.
“What does that mean?”
Mara’s voice dropped.
“It means Thomas Vale stopped existing on paper.”
Adrian felt cold all over.
“Why?”
“Because someone tried to kill him.”
“Who?”
Mara looked at him.
“You.”
Emily recoiled.
Adrian’s face went blank.
Mara continued quickly.
“That is what he believed.”
“I was in Afghanistan when he died.”
“He knew.”
“Then how could he believe I tried to kill him?”
“Because the bomb that destroyed his car was built from military explosives traced to a unit you commanded.”
Adrian remembered the phone call.
Victor crying.
The burned vehicle.
No body suitable for viewing.
Closed casket.
He had been halfway across the world and had hated himself for missing the funeral.
Mara said, “Thomas survived the blast. He disappeared while an internal investigation looked for whoever had supplied the explosives.”
“And nobody told me?”
“You were one of the suspects.”
Emily whispered, “This is insane.”
“It gets worse,” Mara said.
Adrian looked at her.
“How could it possibly get worse?”
“Your father spent eleven years building a private network because he became convinced your family was compromised.”
“By whom?”
“By the same people he once worked with.”
Mara pointed toward the mansion.
“Judges. Police. contractors. politicians. He called the network North Star.”
The compass symbol.
Adrian finally understood the ring.
The folders.
The name North.
Emily wrapped her arms around herself.
“So Grandpa is North?”
Mara shook her head.
“He started North Star.”
“Then who is North?” Adrian asked.
Mara opened her mouth.
A gunshot cracked through the mansion.
Emily screamed.
Adrian was already moving.
They raced back to the foyer.
Mason’s chair was empty.
One security officer lay on the floor clutching his shoulder.
The front doors stood open.
And Claire was gone.
May you like
On the marble floor where she had been standing was a single black signet ring.
