Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED COATAgent Cole refused to let me go to the church.
I refused to let him make the decision for me.
“You’re recovering from strangulation, fractured ribs, and a concussion,” he said. “You’re also the primary witness in two major investigations.”
“And Brooke has already disappeared once.”
“She could be working with Ethan.”
“She probably is.”
“Then why would we place you within reach?”
“Because she asked for me.”
“That is exactly why.”
Sarah sided with Cole.
Liam did not speak for several minutes.
Finally, he looked at me.
“What will you do if everyone says no?”
“Find a way to go anyway.”
He sighed.
“At least she’s honest.”
We compromised.
The church would be surrounded by federal agents.
I would wear a wire and a tracking device.
Liam would remain nearby.
No one would enter until I gave a verbal signal.
The abandoned church stood at the edge of a dying town.
Its white paint had peeled away in long strips. One stained-glass window was broken. Weeds pushed through the cracked front steps.
I entered alone.
Every movement pulled at my ribs.
My heartbeat echoed in my ears.
Brooke sat in the third pew.
She wore jeans and a black sweater.
No red coat.
No perfect makeup.
Without the armor of Apex, she looked older.
Smaller.
Frightened.
“You came,” she said.
“You knew I would.”
“I wasn’t sure Liam would allow it.”
“Liam doesn’t allow me to do anything.”
A sad smile touched her mouth.
“You sound like your father.”
I remained near the aisle.
“Where did you get his necklace?”
Brooke touched the compass.
“He gave it to me.”
“My father barely knew you.”
“He knew me longer than you think.”
“Did you kill him?”
The question came out harder than I expected.
Brooke closed her eyes.
“No.”
“You met him before he died.”
“Yes.”
“You touched a medication that could have killed him.”
“Yes.”
“Then explain.”
She looked toward the damaged altar.
“Ethan hired me when Apex had almost nothing. I handled public relations, political introductions, problems with inspectors. At first, the work was legal.”
“At first.”
“He began asking for personal information about people. Affairs. Debts. Addictions. Anything he could use.”
“And you helped him.”
“I told myself every company gathered intelligence.”
“You gathered blackmail.”
“Yes.”
The honesty unsettled me.
“What happened with my father?”
“Thomas discovered Ethan had used the loan money to purchase political influence. He threatened to expose him.”
“So Ethan killed him.”
“Ethan planned to frighten him. Not kill him.”
“That distinction matters to you?”
“It mattered to me then.”
Brooke’s hands trembled.
“Ethan gave me a vial. He told me to pour a small amount into Thomas’s coffee. The dose would make him ill. Ethan believed a medical scare would convince him to delay the investigation.”
“You drugged my father.”
“Yes.”
“And he died.”
“I used less than Ethan instructed. I swear to you.”
“You expect me to be grateful?”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“I expect you to hate me.”
I stepped closer.
“Why did Dad give you the necklace?”
“He realized something was wrong after he drank the coffee. He followed me outside.”
“And?”
“He grabbed my wrist. I thought he would call police. Instead, he looked at me and asked how old I was.”
I said nothing.
“I told him twenty-four. He asked whether Ethan knew where my family lived. I said yes.”
Brooke touched the compass.
“Thomas removed this from his key ring and put it in my hand. He said, ‘A compass does not tell you the road is safe. It only stops you from pretending you’re not lost.’”
That sounded like my father.
Kind even when furious.
Brooke began crying.
“He told me to go inside and call an ambulance. I did. When I returned, he was already collapsing.”
“Why didn’t you tell police?”
“Ethan had photographs of my younger brother buying drugs. He threatened to send them to his military commander. Then he said he would tell police I acted alone.”
“You did act.”
“Yes.”
The word filled the church.
“What does Ethan have on you now?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you hiding?”
“Because Victor Shaw is killing everyone who can connect Northstar to Ethan.”
“Where is Victor?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Ethan’s copy of the Northstar access key?”
Brooke looked confused.
“He doesn’t have one.”
“He nearly killed me for mine.”
“Because his key stopped working.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
The same time I began preparing to leave.
“Why did it stop working?”
“Someone changed the account permissions.”
“Who?”
“Northstar’s original administrator.”
“Ethan created the account.”
“No.”
The church seemed to become colder.
“Who did?”
“Your father.”
I stared at her.
“That’s impossible.”
“Northstar was originally a legal holding account connected to the Morgan Trust. Thomas created it to protect international assets.”
“Ethan used it for stolen money.”
“After Thomas died, Ethan gained access through forged documents.”
My mind raced.
The Cayman account had been my father’s.
Ethan had turned it into a laundering system.
“But someone revoked Ethan’s access six months ago,” I said.
Brooke nodded.
“Who?”
“I thought it was you.”
“It wasn’t.”
A floorboard creaked behind the altar.
Brooke’s head snapped toward the sound.
I touched the hidden emergency transmitter.
“Did you come alone?” I asked loudly.
“Yes.”
Another sound.
Metal against wood.
Brooke stood.
“Claire, get down.”
The stained-glass window exploded.
Brooke threw herself toward me.
A gunshot cracked through the church.
We fell between the pews.
Agents shouted outside.
A second bullet struck the wall.
Brooke cried out.
Blood spread across her shoulder.
I pressed my hand over the wound.
“Stay with me.”
She grabbed my sleeve.
“Ethan has another partner.”
“Who?”
“He was there from the beginning.”
“Tell me.”
Footsteps thundered through the church as agents entered.
Brooke’s eyes rolled with pain.
“The person who changed the access permissions,” she whispered. “The person Ethan is really afraid of.”
“Who is it?”
Her fingers tightened around mine.
“Daniel Price.”
Apex’s chief financial officer.
The man who claimed he knew nothing about the shell companies.
May you like
The man who voted to suspend Ethan.
The man now controlling every frozen corporate account.
