Chapter 6 - The Dead Man's Phone
Genevieve stared at the number.
Her father's phone had been disconnected eight months ago.
Adrian examined the message.
“Someone cloned it.”
“Why?”
“To frighten you.”
“It worked.”
Preston looked at the photograph of his father.
“I'm going.”
“So am I,” Genevieve said.
“No.”
She turned.
Preston almost smiled bitterly.
“I forgot. Telling you what to do hasn't worked out particularly well.”
“No.”
“Then at least don't go alone.”
Genevieve looked at Adrian.
“We involve the police.”
Caleb shook his head.
“Thomas tried.”
“Then we involve different police.”
Adrian agreed.
Evidence was copied and transmitted to an attorney outside Illinois and a federal investigator Thomas had apparently contacted before his death.
Genevieve refused to let the mystery remain trapped inside one room.
“If anything happens tonight,” she said, “everything goes public.”
Adrian nodded.
“That's leverage.”
Hayes Logistics headquarters was nearly empty when they arrived.
Police units remained several blocks away at Adrian's insistence until they confirmed Harrison's location.
Genevieve entered through the executive garage with Adrian, Preston, and Caleb.
The building felt different at night.
She had grown up there.
Summer jobs.
Christmas parties.
Her father's office.
Now every corridor seemed capable of hiding a lie.
The elevator opened on the twenty-seventh floor.
Thomas's office door stood open.
Genevieve entered.
A lamp glowed on the desk.
Nobody was there.
Then Preston saw a phone.
Thomas's old phone.
Sitting beside a framed photograph of Genevieve.
It rang.
Genevieve answered.
“Hello?”
A distorted voice said, “Conference room.”
The call ended.
Adrian shook his head.
“Trap.”
“Obviously.”
Genevieve walked anyway.
The main conference room overlooked the Chicago skyline.
The lights were off.
Genevieve switched them on.
Harrison Witmore sat at the far end of the table.
Alive.
His wrists were not tied.
Nobody guarded him.
Preston rushed forward.
“Dad.”
Harrison stood.
“Stay away from me.”
Preston stopped.
“What?”
Harrison looked at Genevieve.
“I am sorry.”
“For what?”
“More things than I can explain quickly.”
Genevieve held up the ring.
“You wanted this?”
“No.”
“Someone sent me here.”
“I know.”
“Who?”
Harrison looked toward Caleb.
Caleb stiffened.
“You.”
“No,” Harrison said. “Behind you.”
Everyone turned.
A man stepped from the side office.
Richard Sloan.
Chairman of the Hayes Logistics board.
Genevieve stared.
Richard had been her father's college roommate.
Her godfather.
The man who had taught her to drive.
“Uncle Richard?”
He smiled sadly.
“Jenny.”
Her father's warning returned.
Especially people you love.
Richard wore the coat from the warehouse photograph.
Eleanor had recognized it.
Genevieve felt sick.
“Why?”
Richard looked almost offended.
“Because your father forgot who built the company with him.”
“You?”
“I introduced him to investors. Ports. Clients. I opened doors.”
“You weren't on the original incorporation documents.”
“No.”
“Victor Vale was.”
Richard's eyes moved toward Adrian.
“Victor was sentimental.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“What did you do to my father?”
“Nothing.”
“Did Harrison forge the transfer?”
Richard smiled.
“Harrison forged many things.”
Harrison looked down.
Genevieve understood.
Richard had been the invisible beneficiary.
Not Harrison.
Harrison was corrupt.
Greedy.
Complicit.
But not the architect.
Richard continued.
“Thomas spent thirty years pretending Hayes Logistics was some monument to virtue. He never understood what it cost other people to keep his hands clean.”
“So you killed him?”
Richard's expression hardened.
“I didn't intend for him to die.”
Genevieve laughed without humor.
“That sounds familiar.”
“He found the accounts. He confronted me.”
“And?”
“I told him to stop.”
“He didn't.”
“No.”
“What happened to his car?”
Richard did not answer.
Caleb stepped forward.
“You hired the mechanic.”
Richard looked at him.
“I paid someone to frighten Thomas.”
“By tampering with his brakes?”
“The first vehicle was meant to be discovered.”
Genevieve's stomach turned.
“And the second?”
Richard's silence answered.
Harrison spoke.
“You changed the order.”
Richard glanced at him.
“Careful.”
“No.” Harrison straightened. “I've spent too many years being careful.”
Preston stared at his father.
Harrison continued.
“I helped Richard hide transactions. I pressured Thomas. I wanted those terminal rights. But I never agreed to murder.”
Richard smiled.
“You agreed to everything before it became inconvenient.”
Genevieve looked at Harrison.
“Why marry me to Preston?”
Harrison closed his eyes.
“To obtain legitimate control after Thomas died.”
Preston looked sick.
“You told me we were preventing an outside takeover.”
“We were.”
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
Preston stepped backward.
Genevieve felt no satisfaction.
Only exhaustion.
Richard extended his hand.
“The ring.”
“No.”
“The chip inside it contains documents that can destroy people who have nothing to do with Thomas's death.”
“People like you?”
“People with families.”
“So did my father.”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“Give it to me.”
Adrian moved beside Genevieve.
Richard glanced toward the ceiling.
“You think I came alone?”
Genevieve did not answer.
“I control this building's security.”
Caleb looked at the doors.
They locked automatically.
Richard reached for the ring.
Genevieve stepped back.
Then the conference-room screens turned on.
Every monitor displayed the same image.
Thomas Hayes.
A prerecorded video.
Richard froze.
Genevieve stared at her father.
Thomas looked directly into the camera.
“If Richard Sloan is watching this, then he finally made the mistake I was waiting for.”
Richard's face changed.
The recording continued.
“Jenny, if you're there, don't give him the ring.”
Genevieve's eyes filled.
“I know what Richard did.”
Richard lunged toward the control panel.
Nothing happened.
Thomas continued.
“And I know where he hid the original records.”
Richard stopped.
Genevieve whispered, “Where?”
Her father looked almost alive on the screen.
“The answer is somewhere Richard can never reach without you.”
The video ended.
A compartment beneath the conference table clicked open.
Inside was a single brass key.
Genevieve reached toward it.
Richard shouted:
“Don't touch that!”
She picked it up.
Engraved on the key were two words.
BLUEBIRD TERMINAL.
Adrian looked at her.
“What is Bluebird Terminal?”
Genevieve stared at the key.
“A warehouse my father closed fifteen years ago.”
Richard backed toward the door.
May you like
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Then the building lights went out.
