Chapter 7 - The Vance File
I called Daniel back.
No answer.
Marcus called the detention center.
They would not reconnect us.
Victoria stood at the window, staring at the dark lawn.
"Peter Hale."
"You knew him?"
"No."
"You hesitated."
"I knew the name."
"From Samuel?"
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
"That Peter was the only Hale who understood where the money really came from."
Marcus closed the broken window with a temporary panel.
Then he returned to the desk.
"We find the file."
"How?"
"The room."
We searched everything.
Desk.
Shelves.
Floorboards.
Behind paintings.
Inside the old fireplace.
Nothing.
Victoria kept circling the bookshelves.
"Jonathan hid things in plain sight."
"Helpful."
"He hated safes."
"He built three."
"Exactly. Decoys."
Marcus stopped.
He pulled one volume from the shelf.
Corporate Law, 1978.
Too heavy.
Inside was not a book.
It was a metal spine box.
He opened it.
Thin ledger.
Black cover.
Samuel Vance embossed inside.
I turned pages.
Handwritten entries.
Dates.
Shell companies.
Beneficial owners.
Patricia's name.
Michael Cross.
Peter Hale.
And Jonathan.
My father.
I looked at Marcus.
"Why is he here?"
"Could be monitoring."
"Could be participating."
He did not answer.
Victoria took the ledger.
Her hands shook.
"My father's handwriting."
She touched one line.
"That's him."
I read the entry.
P.H. requests liquidation.
J.H. refuses.
P.C. offers alternate route.
M.C. to handle signature chain.
Daniel's father.
Patricia.
Peter.
Jonathan.
All tangled decades before I met any of them.
A phone rang.
The landline.
No one moved.
It rang again.
Marcus answered.
"Yes?"
A man's voice said, "Put Emily on."
Marcus's face changed.
"Who is this?"
"You know."
He looked at me.
I took the receiver.
"Emily?"
The voice was older.
Rough.
Familiar in a way I could not place.
"Who is this?"
"Peter."
My hand tightened.
"Peter Hale is dead."
A dry laugh.
"So is Victoria Vance."
Victoria stared at the phone.
I put it on speaker.
"What do you want?"
"To keep you alive."
"Everyone says that right before they lie to me."
He laughed again.
"Jonathan's daughter."
My chest tightened.
"Prove who you are."
He named the stuffed rabbit I dragged around at age four.
The nickname my father used only when I was sick.
The stain on the library ceiling from the Christmas tree fire nobody outside the family knew happened.
Marcus's face changed with each detail.
Victoria whispered, "Could be researched."
Peter heard.
"Victoria."
She froze.
"I'm sorry about Samuel."
Her eyes filled with rage.
"You knew him?"
"I tried to save him."
"You signed his companies."
"I signed what I had to."
I cut in.
"Where are you?"
"Not safe."
"Why now?"
"Because Patricia activated Daniel."
"Activated?"
"The marriage plan."
My stomach turned.
"How do you know?"
"Because I helped design the original version."
Silence.
I gripped the receiver.
"You what?"
"Not for you. For Jonathan."
Marcus stepped closer.
Peter heard him.
"Is Reed there?"
"Yes."
The line went quiet.
"Peter?"
"Get away from him."
Marcus's face hardened.
"Peter-"
"Do not let him near the Vance file."
I looked at Marcus.
Victoria did too.
"Why?"
Peter's answer came immediately.
"Because Marcus did not start working for your father after I disappeared."
Marcus closed his eyes.
Peter continued.
"He was already working for Patricia."
The line died.
I stared at Marcus.
He did not deny it.
May you like
CUT.
