Chapter 10 - The Son TestifiesI wanted Julian to be lying.
That became clear immediately.
Angry people rush.
Angry people make mistakes.
Angry people stop seeing the board.
My father had taught me better.
So I did nothing for six hours.
At least nothing Graham could see.
Behind the scenes, Meridian analysts began reconstructing his entire financial network using Michael’s files.
Federal investigators reopened my brother’s case.
Interpol received account data.
Northstar executives were questioned.
Four of Graham’s shell companies were frozen before lunchtime.
At two, three senior employees began cooperating.
At four, a Swiss bank reported an attempted transfer for $310 million.
Blocked.
At five, Graham called.
“You’ve been busy.”
“So have you.”
“You found Michael’s drive.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then:
“Your brother was always persistent.”
Every instinct screamed at me.
“Did you kill him?”
“You already decided what you believe.”
“I asked a question.”
“And I’m declining to satisfy your need for closure.”
That sentence told me enough.
“Why send Penny the chess piece?”
“To remind you that this ends between us.”
“It ends with you in prison.”
He laughed.
“You still believe institutions control people like me.”
“They controlled you enough to make you run.”
“I didn’t run.”
“Vermont looked a lot like running.”
His breathing changed slightly.
Hit.
“I want a meeting.”
“Why?”
“I have something of yours.”
“If you mean another hostage—”
“Not a person.”
A picture arrived.
Michael’s watch.
My father had given it to him on his twenty-first birthday.
Police returned it to us after the crash.
Then it disappeared from evidence storage before my mother could claim it.
For twelve years I had assumed it was lost.
Graham had it.
“Where did you get that?”
“You know.”
My skin went cold.
He had been connected to the crash closely enough to obtain Michael’s belongings.
“Tomorrow. Noon. Sterling Meridian headquarters.”
I almost laughed.
“You want to walk into my building?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll guarantee safe passage.”
“No.”
“Then you’ll never learn exactly what happened to Michael.”
I hung up.
Daniel stared at me.
“You’re not meeting him.”
“I am.”
“Emma.”
“In our building.”
“That doesn’t make him harmless.”
“No. It makes the environment ours.”
Agent Cole hated the plan.
Then she improved it.
At noon the next day, Graham walked through Meridian’s lobby.
No disguise.
No visible weapon.
He wore an expensive charcoal suit and carried Michael’s watch in his pocket.
News cameras outside spotted him immediately.
That was intentional.
Graham wanted the world to see him walk in voluntarily.
He wanted to create doubt.
Wanted to look like a businessman, not a fugitive.
He entered the conference room alone.
I sat across from him.
Daniel watched remotely.
Agents waited behind hidden doors.
Graham placed the watch on the table.
I didn’t touch it.
“Tell me about Michael.”
“He was investigating me.”
“I know.”
“He confronted me.”
“When?”
“Three days before he died.”
“Where?”
“Boston.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him to stop.”
“And?”
“He refused.”
“Then you hired Daniel Cross.”
The driver.
Graham smiled.
“I helped Daniel Cross financially.”
“Before or after he killed my brother?”
“Both.”
There.
Not confession.
But close.
“Why?”
“Because he had gambling debts.”
“And you paid them.”
“Yes.”
“In exchange for what?”
Graham leaned back.
“Careful.”
“You came here to tell me.”
“I came here to offer you a choice.”
Of course.
Men like Graham could turn murder into negotiation.
“What choice?”
“Withdraw all evidence Michael gathered.”
“No.”
“You haven’t heard the offer.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Your daughter inherits nothing from Julian if this continues.”
I almost laughed.
“You still think money is the lever.”
“Everyone has a price.”
“Penny already has more than she’ll ever need.”
“From you?”
“Yes.”
That surprised him.
Despite everything, Graham had assumed my wealth was theoretical.
He didn’t understand Sterling Meridian’s structure.
Good.
“Then perhaps Julian is the price.”
“He isn’t.”
Graham studied me.
“You really are done with him.”
“Yes.”
“A decade of marriage.”
“A decade isn’t a reason to waste an eleventh year.”
His smile faded.
“Victoria?”
“No.”
“Arthur?”
“No.”
“What do you want, Emma?”
“Accountability.”
“That isn’t a real thing.”
“It’s about to become real for you.”
A door opened.
Agent Cole entered.
“Graham Vale, you’re under arrest.”
He didn’t look surprised.
“You invited law enforcement?”
“You came into a building while wanted in connection with kidnapping.”
Graham smiled.
“Wanted for questioning.”
Agent Cole approached.
Then every light went out.
The room plunged into darkness.
Emergency alarms screamed.
A second later, glass shattered.
Daniel shouted through my earpiece.
“Emma, down!”
I dropped.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Not inside.
A diversion.
Backup generators activated.
Graham was gone.
A section of the conference-room wall stood open.
Service access.
He had studied our building plans.
I ran toward the corridor.
Agent Cole grabbed me.
“No.”
“He’s getting away.”
“My agents are handling it.”
Then Daniel’s voice came again.
“Garage.”
Security cameras showed Graham descending into the underground levels.
Agents pursued.
He reached a black sedan.
The exit gate closed.
He reversed.
Another vehicle blocked him.
Graham was trapped.
Instead of surrendering, he accelerated toward the gate.
The sedan smashed through.
Police vehicles followed.
The chase ended fourteen blocks later when Graham collided with a construction barrier.
He survived.
Barely.
At the hospital, prosecutors placed him under guard.
By evening, investigators found something in his car.
A digital recorder.
On it was a conversation with Daniel Cross from twelve years earlier.
Graham’s voice:
Make it look like he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Cross asked:
And the sister?
Graham answered:
Leave Emma alone. Grief will take care of her.
I listened once.
Then stopped.
I didn’t need to hear it again.
My brother had been murdered.
But Graham had been wrong about one thing.
Grief had not taken care of me.
It had changed me.
Hidden me.
Broken parts of me.
But I was still there.
The black king had finally fallen.
I thought that meant the war was over.
Then Daniel entered with one final piece of news.
“Julian made a deal with prosecutors.”
“What kind?”
“He’s agreed to testify against Victoria and Graham.”
I nodded.
“That helps him?”
“Potentially.”
“How much?”
“His attorneys are asking for significantly reduced time.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did he offer?”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“Evidence we don’t have.”
“Against whom?”
“Victoria.”
“What evidence?”
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Victoria and Graham together at a private airport.
Date: three weeks before Michael’s death.
My breath caught.
May you like
Daniel said quietly:
“Julian claims his mother knew about the plan to kill your brother.”
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