Chapter 6
Lena had barely left the room when Elise received a call from a number she knew.
Arthur Bell.
The elderly former Meridian partner who had given her the missing envelope.
“Elise, listen carefully.”
“Arthur?”
“You opened the document?”
“It was stolen.”
A long silence.
Then Arthur said, “Good.”
“It means they were afraid you'd read it.”
“I can't say on the phone.”
“Arthur, my company is collapsing.”
“Your company isn't what you think.”
“Then tell me what it is.”
“I was hoping you would never have to know.”
“Too late.”
Arthur breathed shakily.
“Meet me.”
“St. Vincent Station.”
“Why there?”
“Because nobody knows I use the south entrance.”
The line went dead.
Two hours later, Elise entered the abandoned station with Daniel beside her.
“You trust Arthur?” Daniel asked.
“More than you.”
“That hurts.”
They found Arthur near a maintenance tunnel.
He looked older than he had the day before.
“You brought him.”
Daniel stepped forward.
Arthur's expression changed.
“You shouldn't have.”
Daniel frowned.
“Shouldn't have what?”
Elise stared at Arthur.
“Tell me everything.”
Arthur sat down.
“Your father believed Meridian was being used as a financial vehicle.”
“He never knew.”
“What about Bellwether Trust?”
Arthur looked at Elise.
“Your father created it.”
Her heart stopped.
“To protect you.”
“From what?”
“From the board.”
“Which board?”
“The original board.”
Elise's voice cracked.
“My father founded Meridian.”
“And Bellwether owns part of Meridian?”
Arthur nodded.
“Enough.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It controls voting rights.”
“Who controls Bellwether?”
Arthur didn't answer.
Daniel suddenly stepped between them.
“Elise, we need to go.”
Arthur looked at Daniel.
“You still don't understand.”
“Understand what?”
Arthur pointed at him.
“You were supposed to be dead.”
Daniel froze.
Arthur was breathing hard.
“Marcus discovered Daniel's name in the trust documents.”
Daniel's face went white.
Arthur continued.
“Not Daniel Price.”
Elise stared.
“Daniel Price is not his real name.”
The tunnel became silent.
Daniel backed away.
“That man was killed.”
Arthur shook his head.
“No. He disappeared.”
Elise looked between them.
“Tell me.”
Still nothing.
Then Daniel pulled his phone from his coat.
He looked at Elise.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“After I knew who was behind it.”
“You've been lying to me.”
“I've been protecting you.”
“You used another name.”
“Because the name in the trust was tied to people who would've killed me.”
Elise stepped back.
“You knew about Bellwether.”
“You knew my father.”
“You knew Marcus.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“And Cynthia?”
A long pause.
Elise’s voice became barely audible.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Daniel looked at Arthur.
Arthur whispered, “Tell her.”
Daniel finally spoke.
“Marcus didn't die.”
“He survived the crash.”
Her knees weakened.
“He was hidden.”
Daniel looked down.
“I do.”
A sound came from the tunnel behind them.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Approaching.
Arthur's face drained of color.
“He found us.”
A man emerged from the darkness.
Older.
Thin.
Scar across his cheek.
Cynthia Hale's brother.
Marcus.
Alive.
Chapter 7
Elise could not speak.
Marcus Hale stood ten feet away, breathing hard, looking at her as though he had spent years imagining the moment.
“You look like him.”
Elise swallowed.
“My father?”
Marcus nodded.
“He talked about you constantly.”
“You're alive.”
“Because dead men are harder to kill.”
Marcus immediately raised a gun.
Marcus's eyes stayed on Daniel.
“He's with me.”
“He was always with someone.”
Daniel stopped.
“Don't say my name.”
Cynthia appeared behind him.
She looked at Elise.
“I told you.”
Elise felt something close to anger.
“You knew.”
“You watched me walk into that airport while you knew all of this.”
“I needed to know whether you were still working for them.”
Marcus lowered the gun.
“The people who built Meridian.”
Marcus glanced at Arthur.
Marcus began.
“Your father discovered that Meridian had a hidden capital structure.”
“Elaborate.”
“Money entered through legitimate investors. Then it moved through shell companies. Some of it financed hostile acquisitions. Some funded political influence. Some disappeared.”
Daniel added, “And some was used to create synthetic ownership.”
Elise looked at him.
“People who officially owned nothing controlled everything.”
“Bellwether was created to protect your father's shares.”
“From the board?”
“From a specific person.”
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
“Walter Graves.”
Elise felt a sudden wave of nausea.
“The chairman?”
“He wasn't always chairman.”
“What was he?”
“Your father's attorney.”
“And my father trusted him?”
“Until the end.”
Marcus pulled out a small drive.
“Your father recorded a conversation.”
He handed it to Elise.
She stared at the tiny device.
“What’s on it?”
“The reason he died.”
Before Elise could connect it, her phone rang.
Lena.
Elise answered.
“Elise?”
Lena was whispering.
“I made a mistake.”
“What happened?”
“I told them where the drive was.”
Elise's heart sank.
“I thought they were going after my daughter.”
“I’m at your office.”
A sound crashed in the background.
Then Lena screamed.
The call ended.
Elise started moving.
Marcus grabbed her arm.
“My assistant is in the building.”
“That building is compromised.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
Elise ripped her arm free.
“You don't get to tell me who I save.”
Marcus stared at her.
Then he lowered the gun.
“I'll come with you.”
Arthur stayed behind.
“Arthur!”
He shook his head.
“Someone has to protect the records.”
Elise hesitated.
Then she ran.
By the time they reached Meridian, the lobby was empty.
The elevators were frozen.
Sprinklers had activated.
Water poured from the ceiling.
They took the stairs.
On the executive floor, Lena's office door hung open.
She was gone.
Her desk had been overturned.
Her daughter's photograph lay shattered on the floor.
Elise bent down.
Behind the frame was another note.
YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE WRONG TRAITOR.
She turned it over.