Chapter 6 - The Name Rebecca Feared
Benjamin Brooks.
Their father.
Elijah sat motionless.
Benjamin Brooks had founded Brooks Continental thirty-two years earlier.
He had supposedly retired eight years ago.
He lived quietly in Florida.
Or so Elijah believed.
Daniel read the email.
“No.”
Elijah understood.
He didn't want it to be true either.
Their father had built everything.
He had taught Elijah to drive a truck before teaching him to run a board meeting.
He had welcomed Rebecca into the family.
He had stood beside Elijah at her funeral.
But records didn't care about memories.
Rebecca's files showed NOAH had originated under Benjamin's leadership.
Midland wasn't merely an acquisition.
Benjamin had arranged it.
The shell companies led back to trusts associated with him.
And Claire's mysterious B had communicated from an account created on Benjamin's private server.
Elijah called him.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Then Daniel said, “Dad isn't in Florida.”
Elijah looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“I called his house manager.”
“Where is he?”
“Nobody's seen him in three weeks.”
Hannah rocked Noah.
Mason sat nearby under police supervision.
Claire had been arrested.
Yet Benjamin remained free.
Elijah looked at Rebecca's files again.
There was one unopened video.
REBECCA_FINAL.
He pressed play.
Rebecca appeared onscreen.
She looked exhausted.
“Elijah, I'm sorry.”
His throat tightened.
“If you're watching this, then I failed to tell you myself.”
She explained NOAH.
Benjamin had created it originally as an off-books routing system during a financial crisis.
Over time, it became a mechanism for hiding unauthorized shipments and payments.
When Elijah took control, Benjamin supposedly shut it down.
He didn't.
Rebecca discovered the truth.
Then she confronted him.
“I don't think your father wants to hurt me,” Rebecca said. “But he's scared. And scared people make terrible decisions.”
Elijah closed his eyes.
Then Rebecca added:
“If something happens to me, remember this: the person who caused it may not have intended for me to die.”
Hannah whispered, “What does that mean?”
The answer came from Thomas Cole's notebook.
He had found a tampered brake line.
But the damage was designed to cause gradual pressure loss.
Not immediate failure.
Someone intended to frighten Rebecca.
Force her to stop investigating.
The storm and mountain road turned sabotage into death.
Elijah felt sick.
His father might not have ordered murder.
But he had created the circumstances.
Daniel stood.
“We find him.”
They did.
Benjamin had returned to the original Brooks trucking depot outside Louisville.
The place where the company began.
Elijah drove there with Daniel.
Police followed at a distance.
Benjamin sat alone inside the first office he had ever owned.
He looked older than Elijah remembered.
“You found Rebecca's files.”
Elijah remained standing.
“You knew.”
Benjamin nodded.
“You ordered someone to sabotage her car.”
“I ordered Thomas to make it appear unreliable.”
Hannah's father.
Elijah's fists clenched.
“Thomas refused.”
Benjamin looked surprised.
“What?”
“He discovered someone else had done it.”
Benjamin stood.
“No.”
“Claire?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Benjamin stared at him.
“I told Claire to disable Rebecca's vehicle temporarily. Nothing dangerous.”
Elijah felt rage rising.
“You ordered interference with her car.”
“Yes.”
“And she died.”
Benjamin's eyes filled.
“I have lived with that every day.”
“No. I lived with it every day.”
Benjamin lowered his head.
Elijah continued.
“You watched me bury her.”
“I know.”
“You watched me blame myself because I missed her call.”
“I know.”
“You let me lock her room and disappear inside myself for four years.”
“I was afraid if you knew, I'd lose you too.”
“You already did.”
Benjamin closed his eyes.
Daniel turned away.
Then Benjamin said something unexpected.
“Rebecca knew before the crash.”
Elijah froze.
“What?”
“She knew I had ordered Claire to interfere with the car.”
“How?”
“Claire confessed.”
“Then why did Rebecca drive?”
“She believed Claire hadn't done it yet.”
Elijah stared.
“Someone else tampered with it first.”
Benjamin nodded.
“Someone who wanted Rebecca dead.”
The room went silent.
“You said you didn't know who.”
“I didn't then.”
“And now?”
Benjamin walked to an old filing cabinet.
He removed an envelope.
“I received this two weeks ago.”
Inside was a photograph.
Rebecca's damaged car.
Someone stood beside it before the crash.
The image was grainy.
But the face was visible.
Elijah recognized the man.
His former security chief.
Arthur Dane.
Arthur had disappeared three months after Rebecca died.
Elijah looked at Benjamin.
“Where is he?”
Benjamin swallowed.
“He contacted me yesterday.”
“Why?”
“He wants Rebecca's original files.”
Elijah's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
I HAVE THE ORIGINAL ACCIDENT RECORDING.
May you like
COME TO ROUTE 17.
ALONE.
