Chapter 10 - The Name in the Notebook
Arthur didn’t confront Ruiz.
Not yet.
He returned to Daniel and Maya first.
Grant Rourke had been transferred to a secure facility.
Victoria had surrendered to federal investigators after sending copies of her digital evidence to three attorneys and a journalist.
Charles Vale had disappeared.
And Lieutenant Carla Ruiz was still acting like their ally.
Arthur placed the notebook on Daniel’s desk.
Daniel read the name.
His expression remained unreadable.
“You trust her?” Arthur asked.
“I trust evidence.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
Daniel closed the book.
“I don’t trust anyone automatically anymore.”
Maya sat nearby.
“Could Charles have written her name just to scare people?”
“Possible.”
Arthur looked at Daniel.
“Or she’s dirty.”
“Also possible.”
Maya stood.
“We should ask her.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because if she’s working for Charles, we tell her exactly what we know.”
Maya hated that answer.
Arthur could tell.
She was tired of adults speaking in codes.
But this time she didn’t argue.
Daniel inserted one of Edmund’s encrypted hard drives into an offline computer.
“We need the password.”
Arthur thought about Grant.
Noah wandered into the office.
“What if it’s Rose?”
Daniel looked at him.
“What?”
“Grandpa loved Grandma Rose.”
Daniel typed ROSE.
Access denied.
Noah frowned.
“RoseWhitmore?”
Denied.
Maya whispered, “First promise.”
Daniel typed FIRSTPROMISE.
Denied.
Arthur remembered the lake.
“What date did Edmund propose?”
Daniel stared.
“I might know.”
He searched an old family record.
June 17, 1969.
Daniel typed 06171969.
The drive opened.
Nobody spoke.
Folders filled the screen.
FINANCE.
VALE.
SAMUEL.
ELENA.
INSURANCE.
POLICE.
MEDICAL.
Daniel clicked SAMUEL.
Scanned documents appeared.
Arthur saw his father’s handwriting.
Months of forensic accounting.
Transfer records.
Emails.
A final voice recording.
Arthur’s hand shook as he clicked it.
Samuel’s voice filled the room.
“If you’re listening to this, Charles Vale probably found out what I discovered.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Eleven years.
Eleven years since he had heard that voice.
Samuel continued.
“He is moving money through charities, pension funds, and acquisition vehicles. Edmund knows part of it. I don’t think he knows how far it goes.”
Arthur swallowed.
Then another voice entered.
A door opening.
Samuel said, “Victoria?”
Everybody froze.
Victoria’s younger voice answered.
“We need to talk.”
The recording continued for four minutes.
Victoria demanded the files.
Samuel refused.
He insulted Charles.
Victoria threatened to call her father.
Samuel said,
“Do it. Maybe he’ll finally have the courage to face someone who knows exactly what he is.”
Then footsteps.
Silence.
The recording ended.
Arthur stared at the screen.
Daniel quietly said, “Your father recorded everything.”
Another file waited beneath it.
GARAGE AUDIO.
Arthur opened it.
This recording was worse.
Footsteps.
Samuel arguing with Victoria.
Charles arriving.
Arthur heard his father say,
“You’re destroying your daughter.”
Charles answered,
“She understands loyalty.”
Then Victoria screamed.
A gunshot.
Silence.
Arthur stood so quickly his chair fell.
Maya flinched.
Daniel paused the recording.
Arthur walked to the window.
He couldn’t breathe.
Behind him, Noah whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Arthur turned.
The boy looked frightened.
Arthur knelt.
“You didn’t do anything.”
Noah hugged him.
Arthur almost broke.
For eleven years, he had imagined his father alone.
Now he knew exactly who had been there.
And worse, he knew Victoria had married him carrying that secret.
Daniel suddenly said, “Arthur.”
Something in his voice changed.
“What?”
Daniel had opened the POLICE folder.
Inside were spreadsheets of payments.
Officer names.
Badge numbers.
Dates.
Ruiz was there.
Arthur stared.
But beside her name was a note.
DECLINED.
Daniel scrolled.
Another entry.
RUIZ — REFUSED PAYMENT, MONITOR CLOSELY.
Arthur exhaled.
“She wasn’t bought.”
“No.”
Maya leaned closer.
“Then why was her name in Victoria’s notebook?”
“Because Victoria copied every person Charles approached,” Daniel said.
Arthur felt foolish.
And relieved.
Then Daniel stopped scrolling.
A different name appeared.
DEPUTY CHIEF MARTIN HOLLIS.
Dozens of payments.
Arthur knew Hollis.
He had been the public spokesperson after Samuel’s death.
The man who told reporters the shooting was a random robbery.
Daniel whispered, “There’s our inside man.”
Arthur’s phone rang.
Ruiz.
He answered.
Her voice was tense.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Grant Rourke escaped custody.”
Arthur went still.
“How?”
“Someone inside the transport team helped him.”
Arthur looked at the name on the screen.
“Martin Hollis?”
Silence.
Ruiz whispered,
“How do you know that?”
Before Arthur could answer, glass exploded behind him.
Maya screamed.
A bullet ripped through the office window.
Daniel dragged the children down.
Arthur hit the floor.
Another shot punched into the wall.
And from the yard outside, a man shouted,
May you like
“Give me the drive!”
Grant had found them.
