Chapter 8 - The Last Witness
Ethan Vale survived.
Barely.
The ambulance transported him under an armed state police escort to St. Catherine Medical Center.
Ava was not allowed inside the emergency room.
She paced the corridor while surgeons worked.
Naomi stood beside the door.
Marcus had gone to obtain emergency federal protection.
Patrick sat alone at the end of the hallway.
Ava finally walked toward him.
He stood.
“You don’t have to talk to me.”
“No.”
Patrick nodded.
“I understand.”
Ava looked at him.
“No, you don’t.”
He accepted that too.
“You protected us after Dad died.”
“Yes.”
“Was it guilt?”
“At first.”
The answer hurt.
“And later?”
Patrick’s eyes filled.
“You became my daughter in every way that mattered except the right to call you mine.”
Ava looked away.
“I don’t know what to do with that.”
“You don’t have to do anything.”
“Did Mom know?”
“Not everything.”
“Did she know you betrayed Dad?”
“No.”
Ava’s jaw tightened.
“She deserves to.”
“Yes.”
“You’re going to tell her.”
“Yes.”
“If we survive this.”
Patrick gave a tired smile.
“If we survive this.”
A doctor finally appeared.
“Family of Lucas Bennett?”
Ava stepped forward.
“His real name is Ethan Vale.”
The doctor blinked.
Ava said, “Complicated.”
“He’s stable.”
Relief hit Ava so hard she nearly sat down.
“Can I see him?”
“Two minutes.”
Ethan looked much older in the hospital bed than his police photographs suggested.
Bandages covered his head.
His left arm was immobilized.
When Ava entered, his eyes opened.
He stared at her.
“Daniel.”
Ava’s throat tightened.
“No.”
He focused.
“Ava.”
“Yes.”
A faint smile.
“You look like him.”
“Everybody keeps saying that.”
“Probably annoying.”
“Extremely.”
Ethan tried to laugh.
It became a cough.
Ava sat beside him.
“My father said to find you.”
“I know.”
“You knew he put that clue in the file?”
“He told me before he died.”
“Why didn’t you come forward?”
Ethan’s smile disappeared.
“Fear.”
“Of Crane?”
“Of everyone.”
“You became a cop.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To watch Malcolm.”
“Your brother?”
Ethan nodded.
“I didn’t know whether he betrayed Daniel.”
“Patrick thought he did.”
“I knew Patrick wanted everyone to think that.”
Ava took a breath.
“Crane came for you.”
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
“The same thing he has wanted for nineteen years.”
“The ledgers.”
“He thinks I know where Daniel hid the favor ledger.”
“Do you?”
Ethan looked directly at her.
“Yes.”
Ava felt adrenaline surge.
“Where?”
“City Hall.”
“The Medal of Valor.”
Ethan blinked.
“You found Malcolm.”
“He called.”
“He’s alive?”
“For now.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Ava realized he was crying.
“I hated him for years.”
“You had reasons.”
“He was dirty.”
“He admitted it.”
“He was also my brother.”
Ava understood that contradiction better than she wanted to.
“Is the ledger inside the medal?”
“Part of it.”
Ava frowned.
“Part?”
“Daniel used microfilm.”
“Again?”
“Your father loved old technology.”
Ava almost smiled.
“Apparently.”
“The medal contains names and payments.”
“What else do we need?”
“Authorization codes.”
“For what?”
Ethan looked toward the door.
“Crane built emergency accounts.”
“Money?”
“Hundreds of millions.”
Ava stared.
“How?”
“Confiscated assets. Drug money. Bribes. Real estate.”
“Where?”
“Multiple countries.”
“And the codes?”
“Daniel found them.”
“Where are they?”
Ethan whispered, “Inside Crane’s original death certificate.”
Ava sat back.
“That document is in state archives.”
“Exactly.”
“Public record.”
“Public copy.”
Ava understood.
“The original.”
Ethan nodded.
“Daniel replaced one page with a microdot.”
Ava stared.
Her father had turned evidence hiding into a scavenger hunt designed to survive decades.
“Why not give everything to federal investigators?”
“Because Crane had federal investigators too.”
Ava believed it now.
A nurse entered.
“You need to go.”
Ava stood.
Ethan grabbed her hand.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
“Crane didn’t kill Daniel.”
Ava froze.
“Who did?”
Ethan’s eyes filled with terror.
“Raymond Sloan.”
Deputy Chief Sloan.
Ethan continued.
“But Sloan wasn’t supposed to.”
“What does that mean?”
“Crane ordered Daniel captured.”
“Why?”
“He wanted the ledger.”
“So Sloan killed him anyway?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel knew something Crane didn’t.”
“What?”
Ethan whispered:
“Sloan had been stealing from Crane.”
Ava stared.
“So Sloan killed Dad to protect himself.”
“Yes.”
“And Crane has been searching for the evidence ever since.”
“Yes.”
Ava stood there feeling nineteen years of anger shift toward a new target.
Raymond Sloan.
The man currently running the Northbridge Police Department.
The man publicly calling Ava a murderer.
The man who had actually murdered her father.
Ethan tightened his grip.
“Ava.”
“Yes?”
“If Crane discovers Sloan killed Daniel without permission…”
“What?”
“He’ll kill Sloan.”
Ava almost laughed.
“Would save us paperwork.”
Ethan shook his head.
“You don’t understand.”
“What?”
“Sloan kept his own records.”
Ava stopped.
“Records of what?”
“Everything he stole from Crane.”
“That could prove the entire network.”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who does?”
Ethan’s face became grim.
“Sloan’s wife.”
Ava knew Rebecca Sloan.
Elegant.
Private.
Frequently photographed beside her husband at charity events.
“She’s involved?”
“No.”
“Then why would she know?”
“Because she has spent twenty years preparing to run from him.”
Ava stepped into the hall and told Naomi everything.
Within an hour they learned Rebecca Sloan had missed two scheduled events.
Her phone was turned off.
Her vehicle remained at home.
Ava felt dread.
“Crane already knows.”
Naomi said, “Or Sloan moved her.”
Marcus returned.
“Federal protection is approved.”
Ava laughed bitterly.
“Which federal agents?”
Marcus understood.
“I selected the team personally.”
“Still.”
“I know.”
A nurse suddenly ran from Ethan’s room.
“Security!”
Ava turned.
The heart monitor alarm screamed.
She ran inside.
Ethan was convulsing.
The IV bag hung beside him.
Ava looked at the tubing.
Something was wrong.
A nurse shouted, “Code!”
Naomi grabbed the discarded medication vial.
The label had been replaced.
“Poison.”
Ava looked toward the doorway.
A hospital orderly was walking away quickly.
“Stop!”
He ran.
Ava chased him through the corridor.
Down the stairwell.
Across the parking garage.
The orderly threw off his jacket.
Not hospital staff.
A man.
Black crane tattoo on his wrist.
Ava tackled him beside a concrete pillar.
They fought.
He reached for a knife.
Ava struck his wrist.
Naomi arrived and aimed her weapon.
“Don’t.”
The man froze.
Ava pinned him.
“Who sent you?”
He laughed.
“You think Crane needs to?”
“Who?”
The man looked at Ava.
“Sloan.”
Ava stopped.
“Deputy Chief Sloan ordered Ethan killed?”
The assassin smiled.
“Everybody is cleaning their own mess now.”
Naomi handcuffed him.
Ava ran back upstairs.
Doctors managed to stabilize Ethan.
Again.
But the implication was clear.
The alliance between Crane and Sloan was breaking.
Two predators were turning on each other.
That gave Ava an opportunity.
It also made everything more dangerous.
At 11:42 p.m., Rebecca Sloan finally activated her phone.
One call.
To Ava.
A woman whispered:
“I know who you are.”
“Mrs. Sloan?”
“My husband killed your father.”
Ava closed her eyes.
“Where are you?”
“I’ll tell you, but you have to promise something.”
“What?”
“Take my daughter too.”
Ava frowned.
“You have a daughter?”
Rebecca began crying.
“Raymond told everyone she died seventeen years ago.”
Ava went still.
“She didn’t?”
“No.”
“Why would he tell people his own daughter was dead?”
Rebecca whispered:
“Because Victor Crane is her biological father.”
May you like
Then the call cut off.
And the war suddenly became personal for everyone.
