Chapter 9 - THE PRICE OF CHOOSING HERRichard Voss did not need to raise his voice.
He sat inside the sedan as though he were waiting for a business meeting.
"Get in, Claire."
Marcus moved in front of me.
"That's not happening."
Richard sighed.
"Mr. Hale, I know you have a gun. I also know you won't fire into a vehicle while civilians are standing behind it."
Marcus didn't move.
Richard glanced toward Eleanor.
"Tell her."
Eleanor's face was pale.
"Claire, don't go with him."
Richard smiled.
"Still dramatic, Ellie."
I looked between them.
"What do you want?"
"Something your father hid."
"The financial records?"
"Not those."
He leaned forward.
"A second ledger."
My heart pounded.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I believe you."
"Then leave me alone."
"I would love to."
He reached into his coat.
Marcus shifted.
Richard raised one hand.
"Relax."
He removed a phone.
On the screen was a live video.
Adrian.
Sitting inside a black SUV.
A red laser dot moved across his chest.
I stopped breathing.
Richard watched my face.
"There it is."
"What?"
"That look."
I hated him for recognizing it.
"You still love him."
I said nothing.
"Of course you do."
Richard lowered the phone.
"Love is useful. It makes intelligent people predictable."
I looked at the screen again.
"Where is he?"
"Chicago."
"What do you want from me?"
"The brass key."
My fingers closed around my coat pocket.
Richard noticed.
"Good. You have it."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because Thomas Bennett was a clever man. He hid one key inside a music box. But the key was never meant to open only one lock."
I remembered the fireproof case.
The storage unit.
The small scratches along the brass.
"What else does it open?"
Richard smiled.
"Something worth considerably more than the inheritance Eleanor promised you."
Marcus spoke quietly.
"Claire, don't."
Richard looked at him.
"Mr. Hale, you have ten seconds to decide whether this becomes unpleasant."
The words struck me like a physical blow.
Ten seconds.
Again.
The countdown.
The choice.
I looked at Richard.
"No."
His smile faded.
"No?"
"I'm not giving you anything."
He studied me.
"Then Adrian dies."
I swallowed.
"Maybe."
Richard's eyes narrowed.
"But if you kill him, you'll never get what you want."
A long silence.
Then Richard laughed softly.
"Thomas's daughter."
He looked almost pleased.
"Very well."
He raised the phone.
"Stand down."
The laser disappeared from Adrian's chest.
Richard turned back to me.
"That buys you twenty-four hours."
The window rose.
The sedan drove away.
I stood in the alley shaking.
Marcus touched my shoulder.
I pulled away.
"Call Adrian."
Adrian answered immediately.
"Claire?"
"Are you alone?"
"Yes."
"Get out of the vehicle."
"What?"
"Now."
He didn't argue.
I heard a car door open.
Footsteps.
Then his voice.
"I'm out."
"Go somewhere secure."
"Claire, what happened?"
"Richard Voss is alive."
Silence.
Then Adrian said, "I know."
I closed my eyes.
"He threatened you."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Where are you?"
"That doesn't matter."
"It matters to me."
I almost laughed.
Six years ago, those words would have made me feel safe.
Now they made me tired.
"Adrian, he wants something my father hid."
"What?"
"A second ledger."
Adrian went silent.
"Adrian?"
"I think I know where it is."
My pulse quickened.
"Where?"
"There's a sealed compartment in my father's old office."
"How do you know?"
"Because my mother told me about it this morning."
I stared at the phone.
"Your mother?"
"She's cooperating."
"After nineteen years?"
"She knows Richard is alive."
I looked toward Eleanor.
She was watching me.
Adrian continued.
"Claire, listen. My mother says Richard controlled the money transfers by threatening to expose evidence of crimes committed by the family. She helped him because she thought she was protecting us."
"Did she have anything to do with my father's death?"
A long silence.
"Adrian."
His voice was quiet.
"She says she warned Thomas to stop investigating because Richard had threatened to kill you."
I closed my eyes.
"Did she know he would be killed?"
"She says no."
"Do you believe her?"
"I don't know."
It was the most truthful answer Adrian had ever given me.
I sat down on the curb.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Adrian said, "I'm going to get the ledger."
"Don't."
"Claire—"
"He wants us to panic."
"I know."
"Then don't do exactly what he expects."
Adrian was silent.
I continued.
"Give the information to federal investigators."
He exhaled.
"You know what that means for my family."
"Yes."
"It could destroy everything."
I looked at my father's letter.
You were never a debt anyone had the right to collect.
"Then perhaps everything needs to be destroyed."
That evening, Adrian made a decision no Moretti boss had made before him.
He called a federal prosecutor.
He offered financial records.
Names.
Account numbers.
Evidence of money laundering.
And testimony concerning Richard Voss.
In exchange, he requested protection for Claire and the witnesses.
The prosecutor made no promises about immunity.
Adrian didn't ask for any.
At 9:17 p.m., federal agents entered the Moretti headquarters.
By midnight, Lily Monroe had been located at a private airfield outside Chicago.
She was arrested before boarding a chartered plane.
Adrian watched from a distance.
Lily saw him.
For a moment, her expression softened.
"Adrian."
He said nothing.
"I never wanted Claire hurt."
He looked at her.
"You helped put her in that chair."
Lily's eyes filled.
"I was told she'd be released."
"By Richard?"
She nodded.
"Why?"
Lily swallowed.
"Because he promised me something."
"What?"
She looked at him.
"Freedom."
Adrian stared.
"From what?"
She lowered her voice.
"From the people who own the Moretti family."
Before he could ask another question, an agent led her away.
Then Adrian's phone rang.
Claire.
He answered.
"Claire?"
Her voice was barely audible.
"Adrian, I found the second ledger."
His heart stopped.
"Where?"
"Inside the key."
"What?"
"The brass key has a hollow shaft. There's a storage chip inside."
Adrian closed his eyes.
"Claire, don't open anything until federal investigators are with you."
Too late.
I had already connected the chip to an offline laptop.
And the first document had opened.
It wasn't a financial ledger.
It was a video.
My father appeared on the screen.
Older than I remembered.
Exhausted.
Terrified.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Claire, if you are watching this, then the Moretti family has finally told you the truth."
I covered my mouth.
He continued.
"But there is one thing they still don't know."
The camera shifted.
A woman stepped into the frame.
My mother.
May you like
Alive.
The timestamp was dated six years after the funeral where I had watched her coffin lowered into the ground.
