Chapter 9 - THE LIE MY BEST FRIEND INHERITED
9
Ethan looked ordinary.
That was the first thing that struck me.
No gun visible.
No dramatic rage.
Dark coat.
Expensive shoes.
Calm smile.
The kind of man you would trust to recommend a restaurant.
Behind him stood Mason Price.
My CFO looked terrified.
Ethan looked amused.
“Julian.”
I stepped forward.
Rachel caught my arm.
“Don’t.”
Ethan smiled.
“She’s smart.”
Grant stared at him.
“What did you do?”
“To whom?”
“My father.”
“Nothing.”
“You put him on that video?”
Ethan laughed.
“Your father died four years ago.”
“I know.”
“Cancer, wasn’t it?”
Grant lunged.
Rachel’s investigator blocked him.
Ethan never moved.
“I didn’t create Richard Vance’s recording.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To see whether Julian believes it.”
I stared at him.
“My father named Robert Mercer.”
“Yes.”
“He told me to find Grant.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Ethan tilted his head.
“Ask Grant.”
Grant shouted, “I don’t know!”
Ethan looked delighted.
“That’s the problem with inherited secrets. Sometimes parents hide them so well their children inherit only the consequences.”
Mason whispered, “Ethan, you said we were leaving.”
Ethan ignored him.
I looked at Mason.
“Did you steal twenty-six million dollars?”
He started crying.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Debt.”
“What debt?”
“Gambling at first.”
Grant cursed.
Mason continued.
“Then Ethan found out.”
“So he blackmailed you.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Four years.”
“Did you help him access Caroline’s records?”
Mason nodded.
My fists tightened.
“Did you help him follow her?”
“No.”
“Change her GPS?”
“No.”
“Do you know who did?”
He looked at Ethan.
Ethan smiled.
“Mason doesn’t know much.”
I turned back to Ethan.
“Did you kill my wife?”
“No.”
The answer was calm.
“Did you arrange the accident?”
“No.”
“Did Harrison?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Ethan looked almost disappointed.
“You still think Caroline died because of a secret meeting.”
“She was rerouted.”
“Yes.”
“By your device.”
“Technically Harrison’s.”
“You used it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To send her to Bedford.”
My entire body tensed.
“You admit it?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“Because she asked me to.”
Silence.
Victoria stared.
“That’s a lie.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Hello, Victoria.”
She moved closer to me without realizing it.
Ethan noticed.
“Still finding men to stand behind?”
She stiffened.
I said, “Explain.”
He looked at me.
“Caroline knew her communications were compromised. She sometimes used systems Harrison controlled because she wanted watchers to see certain things.”
“You’re saying she asked you to change her route?”
“Yes.”
“Why would she trust you?”
“She didn’t.”
“Then why?”
“Because we had a temporary shared interest.”
I laughed.
“You expect me to believe my wife was secretly working with the man who blackmailed my CFO?”
Ethan’s smile faded slightly.
“Caroline was more complicated than you knew.”
That sounded cruel because it was true.
He continued.
“She wanted the Ravenswood ledger. I wanted it too.”
“For your father.”
“For the truth.”
“You don’t care about truth.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I know you broke into my son’s nursery.”
“Yes.”
“Forged medical authorization.”
“No.”
Victoria looked at him.
Ethan frowned.
“What authorization?”
For the first time, he appeared genuinely confused.
Rachel noticed.
“So someone else did that.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“Meridian?”
Victoria whispered, “Yes.”
He swore.
That frightened me.
“What?”
Ethan looked at Harrison’s absent place in our strange web.
“You need to get Leo out of your house.”
My heart stopped.
“Why?”
“Because phase two was never mine.”
Victoria stared.
“You used that phrase.”
“Yes.”
“But not the medical plan?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Ethan looked at Grant.
“Your father’s partner.”
Grant shouted, “My father is dead!”
“Robert Mercer had a partner.”
“Who?”
Ethan smiled without humor.
“Harrison Cole.”
Everything shifted again.
Harrison had sounded like a frightened witness.
Maybe he was.
Maybe he wasn’t.
My father’s video said the dangerous man was not Harrison.
But recordings could be incomplete.
Context changed.
“Why would Harrison target Leo?”
“Because the residual trust contains assets he believes belong to him.”
“Four hundred million?”
Ethan looked surprised.
“So you found it.”
“You knew?”
“I knew there was more than eighty-six.”
“Did you know the amount?”
“No.”
“What does Harrison think belongs to him?”
“The Ravenswood intellectual-property interests.”
Rachel asked, “Old biochemical patents?”
“Licensing rights. Royalties. Settlement reserves.”
“Still active after thirty years?”
“Some were rolled into successor companies.”
David had mentioned associated legacy entities.
Leo’s residual trust was not simply cash.
It held ownership.
Possibly in companies built on research hidden at Ravenswood.
“What did you take from the safe?” I asked.
Ethan tapped his coat.
“The original ledger.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Why leave my father’s video?”
“Because you needed to know Grant’s father was involved.”
Grant looked at him.
“My father never worked at Wynn.”
“Not officially.”
“What did he do?”
“Robert Mercer handled private logistics.”
Grant shook his head.
“No.”
“Your father moved materials off-site after Thomas Bellamy died.”
“No.”
“He helped Harrison bury records.”
“You’re lying.”
Ethan’s voice hardened.
“Ask your mother why Robert came home with fifty thousand dollars cash in 1992.”
Grant went white.
Something.
A memory.
His father had been a construction foreman most of his life.
Fifty thousand dollars then would have been enormous.
Grant sat.
“My mother said it was an inheritance.”
“There was no inheritance.”
I watched my friend collapse under a secret that had started before he was old enough to understand it.
“What did Richard mean when he said Grant knows where the original ledger is?” I asked.
Ethan shrugged.
“Maybe Robert left him something.”
“I don’t know anything.”
Grant’s voice cracked.
Ethan studied him.
Then looked at me.
“I believe him.”
That surprised everyone.
“Then why come here?”
“Because Harrison believed Grant knew.”
There it was.
Harrison.
Again.
Ethan continued.
“When Caroline began investigating, Harrison became obsessed with finding Robert Mercer’s copy.”
“Copy of what?”
“The payment ledger.”
“Payments for what?”
“Silence.”
Employees.
Doctors.
Attorneys.
Inspectors.
People paid to bury Wynn Biochemical’s research scandal.
If that ledger became public, fortunes built afterward could face claims.
Leo’s trust.
Ashbourne.
Sterling land.
Everything.
“Why did Caroline meet you the night she died?”
I asked.
Ethan’s face changed.
“She didn’t.”
“You changed her route.”
“To Bedford, yes.”
“Why?”
“To meet Harrison.”
“Then she was meeting him.”
“He never arrived.”
“Who did?”
Ethan stared at Mason.
Mason looked confused.
Then Ethan said:
“Peter Lorne.”
The driver who killed Caroline.
My body went cold.
“He was waiting?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He worked for Harrison.”
I stepped forward.
“You just said Harrison didn’t arrange the accident.”
“He didn’t arrange an accident.”
“What did he arrange?”
“A scare.”
I wanted to hit him.
Ethan continued before I could move.
“Peter was supposed to follow Caroline. Force her to pull over. Take the key.”
“What key?”
“The Ravenswood key.”
Leo’s music-box key.
“But she still had it after she died.”
“Yes.”
“So Peter failed.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Ethan’s expression lost amusement.
“He pushed too hard.”
The two vehicles collided.
Caroline lost control.
Peter survived.
“He said he fell asleep.”
“Harrison paid his legal bills through intermediaries.”
I felt sick.
“Did you know before it happened?”
“No.”
“After?”
“Yes.”
“And said nothing.”
“Yes.”
Victoria whispered, “You let Julian think it was random.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You did too.”
She closed her eyes.
That was the horror.
Not one murderer in a dark room.
A network of frightened, greedy, compromised people.
Each keeping one piece of the truth.
Together creating a grave.
Then my phone rang.
My mother.
I answered immediately.
“Mom?”
Her voice was shaking.
“Julian, where are you?”
“Ravenswood.”
“You need to come home.”
“What happened?”
“Leo is fine.”
I closed my eyes.
“Then what?”
“Someone came to the house.”
“Who?”
“Harrison Cole.”
Every person in the room went silent.
“What does he want?”
“He says he wants to help.”
“Do not let him near Leo.”
“I didn’t.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s sitting in your library.”
“Why?”
“He brought something.”
“What?”
My mother’s voice dropped.
“A video.”
I looked at Ethan.
He had gone pale.
“What video?”
“Caroline.”
My heart stopped.
“She recorded it the day she died.”
Ethan whispered:
“Harrison doesn’t have that.”
Apparently he did.
My mother continued:
“And Julian…”
“What?”
“She says Victoria’s name.”
Victoria stopped breathing.
May you like
My mother’s voice trembled.
“She says if Victoria is standing beside you when you watch it, you’ve already made a terrible mistake.”
