Chapter 6 - The Family Behind the Name
By sunrise, we were inside Vale Tower.
I had avoided the building since Adam’s funeral.
Its glass lobby still smelled the same.
Polished stone.
Coffee.
Money.
Adam used to joke that the entire company smelled like people pretending not to panic.
That morning nobody pretended.
Police guarded the doors.
Evelyn’s private security occupied the executive floor.
The board meeting began at eight.
Patrick did not attend.
Lucas obviously couldn’t.
Evelyn did something nobody expected.
She played Adam’s recording.
All of it.
Then she presented the forged signatures.
The shell companies.
The insurance policy.
The board members stared at one another.
Some looked shocked.
Two looked afraid.
I noticed.
So did Ben.
The vote to suspend Patrick was unanimous.
The vote to suspend Lucas was not.
Three directors objected.
One of them was Charles Wynn, an old friend of Vincent Vale.
“This is hysteria,” he said.
Evelyn leaned forward.
“My son was kidnapped last night.”
“We have no proof Mr. Sloan was involved.”
I almost laughed.
Ben did.
Charles glared.
Ben leaned against the wall.
“I saw him on video.”
“You’re a courier.”
Evelyn’s voice cut across the room.
“He is my grandson.”
Every face turned.
Ben closed his eyes.
He clearly hadn’t wanted the announcement.
Charles went pale.
Interesting.
Evelyn noticed too.
“You knew,” she said.
Charles stood.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You knew Helen had a child.”
“No.”
Ben moved closer.
“Sit down.”
Charles stared at him.
The resemblance wasn’t obvious until you knew.
Then it was impossible to miss.
Helen’s eyes.
Patrick’s height.
Adam’s stubborn expression.
Charles sat.
Within twenty minutes, security found something in his office.
A burner phone.
Messages to Patrick.
Including one sent the previous night.
NORA HAS THE PACKAGE.
Charles was arrested before nine.
But Lucas was still missing.
Patrick was still missing.
And the longer we searched, the worse my fear became.
Around noon, a detective named Maria Alvarez arrived.
She had reopened Adam’s crash investigation.
“The original mechanic who inspected the vehicle disappeared after giving his report.”
“Disappeared?” I asked.
“Moved to Arizona under another name.”
“Why?”
“We’re bringing him back.”
Evelyn stared out the window.
“I could have done this two years ago.”
Detective Alvarez didn’t comfort her.
“Yes.”
I respected her immediately.
She turned toward me.
“We also found something else. Your husband’s accident was captured by a traffic camera.”
My heart stopped.
“I was told the camera wasn’t working.”
“It was.”
“Then where is the footage?”
“Deleted from police evidence forty-eight hours after the crash.”
Evelyn looked over.
“By whom?”
“An officer who retired six months later.”
“Patrick?”
“We don’t know.”
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A location pin.
No message.
I showed Alvarez.
She frowned.
“Don’t respond.”
Then another message arrived.
NORA ONLY.
Evelyn said, “Absolutely not.”
I looked at the location.
An abandoned Vale warehouse near the river.
One of Adam’s photographs had been taken there.
“He wants the files.”
Alvarez nodded.
“And he expects you to bring them.”
“We could use that.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“You’re not going in there.”
“Lucas is there.”
“You don’t know that.”
My phone buzzed a third time.
A photograph.
Lucas lying on concrete.
Behind him was a clock.
12:47.
Current time.
Alive.
I looked at Alvarez.
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“Then arrest me.”
She stared.
Ben almost smiled.
Evelyn didn’t.
Alvarez finally said, “You wear a wire.”
“Yes.”
“You follow every instruction.”
“Yes.”
“If we tell you to leave, you leave.”
“Yes.”
I was lying on the last one.
By two, I stood outside the warehouse.
Alone.
At least that was what Patrick believed.
The metal case hung from my hand.
Inside it were copies.
The originals were with Alvarez.
I entered.
Lucas sat tied to a chair.
Patrick stood nearby.
Two men guarded the doors.
Patrick smiled.
“You came.”
“Let him go.”
“Files first.”
I held up the case.
“You killed Adam?”
Lucas lifted his head.
“Nora, don’t.”
Patrick frowned.
“Still protecting me, Lucas?”
Lucas spat blood onto the floor.
“I’m protecting her.”
Patrick laughed.
Then looked at me.
“Adam killed himself.”
“No.”
“He kept pulling at threads.”
“Did you cut his brakes?”
Patrick’s smile faded.
“Once.”
My heart hammered.
The wire was recording.
“But he survived that,” Patrick continued.
“So you tried again.”
“I warned him.”
“You murdered him.”
“I solved a problem.”
Lucas lunged against the rope.
“You son of a—”
Patrick hit him.
I moved forward.
One guard blocked me.
Patrick straightened his jacket.
“He forced me to choose.”
“Between what?”
“Between one man and everything I had built.”
“You mean stolen.”
His eyes sharpened.
“You have Adam’s mouth.”
“Thank you.”
“It got him killed.”
The warehouse door exploded open.
Police shouted.
Patrick spun.
The guards ran.
Lucas threw himself sideways, knocking Patrick into a table.
I grabbed the chair and dragged Lucas away.
Gunshots cracked overhead.
Glass shattered.
Then Patrick vanished through a side door.
Police flooded the building.
They freed Lucas.
He collapsed against me.
I didn’t hug him.
I didn’t forgive him.
But I held him upright.
Alvarez approached.
“Patrick escaped through the river exit.”
Evelyn rushed in.
She saw Lucas.
For one second, all the anger vanished.
She embraced him.
Lucas cried.
I had never seen him cry.
Then he looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Everything.”
“That’s a long list.”
“I know.”
He nodded toward the metal case.
“You still don’t know why Patrick needs Ellie’s shares.”
My stomach tightened.
“Tell me.”
Lucas looked toward Ben.
“Because Vale Development owns something Patrick has been hiding for thirty years.”
“What?”
Lucas swallowed.
“A private facility outside the city.”
Evelyn frowned.
“We don’t own a private facility.”
“Yes, we do.”
“What kind?”
May you like
Lucas looked directly at his mother.
“The kind where Dad sent Helen.”
