Chapter 5 - The Night Rebecca Died
Elara stared at Julian.
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
The word landed harder than a shout.
“My mother died in a car accident.”
Julian’s expression tightened.
“No.”
Daniel lowered his head.
Elara looked between them.
“What are you saying?”
Julian spoke first.
“Rebecca was being followed.”
“By who?”
“Caldwell’s people.”
“And you?”
“I was following them.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel contacted me.”
Elara turned toward her father.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
Her voice broke.
“Everyone knew except me.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Ellie—”
“Don't call me that.”
He stopped.
Julian continued.
“Rebecca’s brakes had been tampered with. I tried to reach her before she entered Lake Shore Drive.”
Elara’s face went white.
“You failed.”
“Yes.”
No excuses.
No defensive explanation.
Only yes.
“She crashed.”
Julian looked directly at her.
“I pulled her from the car.”
Elara could barely breathe.
“She was alive?”
“For nine minutes.”
“What did she say?”
Julian hesitated.
“What did my mother say?”
“She asked about you.”
Elara covered her mouth.
“She made me promise Caldwell would never find you.”
Tears blurred her vision.
“You knew all these years.”
“I knew someone was protecting you. I didn't know Daniel was alive.”
“And you never came to me?”
“What would I have said?”
“The truth!”
“Yes.”
Julian’s voice cracked for the first time.
“I should have.”
Silence.
Then the vault speaker came alive.
“Touching.”
Cross.
Julian looked toward the ceiling.
“Open the door.”
“I don't think so.”
Daniel examined the walls.
“There’s an emergency release.”
Marco searched.
Cross continued.
“The modified ledger is useful, isn't it?”
Julian understood.
“You planted my name.”
“Caldwell needed insurance.”
“If the ledger becomes public, it implicates me.”
“And several innocent people.”
Elara looked at the newer pages.
Names had been added deliberately.
Judges.
Business owners.
Police officers.
Even charities.
If released without context, it would destroy dozens of lives.
Daniel flipped through the binding.
“The original pages have watermark fibers.”
Marco looked closer.
“The new ones don't.”
“So we can prove tampering,” Elara said.
“If we get out,” Julian answered.
Marco found a mechanical panel.
“Give me five minutes.”
They had three.
Smoke began entering through a ventilation grate.
Cross’s voice returned.
“Leave the ledger and I'll stop the gas.”
Julian looked at Marco.
“Not smoke?”
Marco sniffed.
“Sedative.”
Daniel coughed.
Elara’s eyes watered.
Julian removed his jacket and pressed it against the vent.
“Work faster.”
Marco tore wiring loose.
Elara crouched beside Daniel.
His wound had reopened.
“Dad.”
He looked at her.
It was the first time she had called him that.
His eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
“Save it until we're out.”
He laughed weakly.
“Yes, ma’am.”
The door clicked.
Marco pulled.
Nothing.
“Secondary lock.”
Julian looked around.
“Manual override?”
“Outside.”
Elara’s vision blurred.
Then she remembered the Christmas box.
“The angel.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
“The key had two pieces.”
“No.”
“The base.”
She pulled the ornament from her coat.
She had brought it without thinking.
The brass key had fallen from the hollow base, but something still rattled inside.
Julian smashed the ornament against the floor.
A second key fell out.
Daniel stared.
“Rebecca.”
Marco found a concealed slot beneath the panel.
The key fit.
The door opened.
They stumbled into the corridor.
Cross was gone.
But he had left something behind.
A phone.
It rang.
Julian answered.
Caldwell’s voice spoke this time.
“Mr. Vane.”
Julian said nothing.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
“No.”
“Then perhaps I have something that belongs to Elara.”
A video appeared.
Maria, the elderly waitress from the Obsidian Lounge, was tied to a chair.
Elara gasped.
Caldwell continued.
“Midnight. Old St. Augustine warehouse.”
Julian’s eyes hardened.
“Touch her and—”
“Save the performance.”
The call ended.
Elara grabbed Julian’s arm.
“We have to go.”
“It’s a trap.”
“I know.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Caldwell won't trade.”
Elara looked at the ledger.
“Then we don't give him the real one.”
For the next eight hours, they prepared.
Copies.
Digital scans.
Evidence packages scheduled for release to three journalists if Julian failed to cancel them by 12:30 a.m.
Daniel recorded a statement.
Marco contacted federal investigators he believed Caldwell had not compromised.
At 11:40, Julian found Elara alone beside the Christmas tree at the safe house.
She still wore his ring.
“You can stay.”
“No.”
“You’ve done enough.”
“Maria was taken because of me.”
“Because of Caldwell.”
“He expects me.”
Julian stepped closer.
“Elara.”
“What?”
“I don't know what happens tonight.”
“Neither do I.”
He looked at the ring.
“You can give that back.”
Her eyes met his.
“Do you want it back?”
“No.”
“Then stop asking.”
For once, Julian Vane had no answer.
She reached into her coat.
The silver compass.
“You forgot this.”
He took it.
“No.”
He closed her fingers around it.
“You keep it.”
“Why?”
“So I have a reason to find you.”
Elara stared at him.
Then Marco entered.
“Time.”
The warehouse stood near the river.
Abandoned.
Dark.
Maria sat beneath a hanging light.
Cross stood beside her.
Caldwell was nowhere visible.
Julian walked in with Elara.
Daniel and Marco remained hidden.
Cross smiled.
“The ledger.”
Julian held it up.
“Maria first.”
Cross nodded.
A guard released her.
Maria hurried toward Elara.
Halfway across the warehouse, a shot rang out.
The overhead light exploded.
Darkness.
Julian grabbed Elara.
Gunfire erupted.
Marco’s team entered.
Cross disappeared behind machinery.
Maria reached safety.
Then Elara felt someone seize her from behind.
A cloth covered her mouth.
She kicked.
Julian shouted her name.
But the world blurred.
The last thing Elara saw was Julian running toward her.
Then she woke inside a moving car.
Her hands were bound.
Cross sat opposite her.
And beside him was Senator Nathan Caldwell.
He smiled.
“Merry Christmas, Miss Vance.”
Then he placed a photograph in her lap.
May you like
It showed Julian standing over her mother’s wrecked car.
Holding a gun.
