Chapter 6 - THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Gunfire erupted upstairs.
Mason shouted for everyone to stay down.
The intruder fled through the back entrance.
Two officers chased him.
They returned empty-handed.
But he left something behind.
A black leather folder.
Inside was a photograph of Lily leaving school.
The date was that morning.
My blood froze.
Beneath it was a handwritten message.
Stop investigating.
I crushed the photograph in my hand.
Mason took it from me.
“They're escalating.”
I nodded.
“No more hiding.”
We moved Lily and my father to a secure location.
Derek came with us.
My mother remained under police protection.
Aunt Beatrice was arrested after investigators discovered she had received large payments from a shell company linked to Vance.
But she finally confessed something important.
The funeral had been staged.
Vance wanted Clara declared dead before anyone could investigate her disappearance.
“Why?”
Beatrice whispered:
“Because Clara wasn't the only person who discovered the truth.”
She handed Mason a document.
It was an old property deed.
The property belonged to Arthur.
My father had once owned a large portion of what became Vance Logistics.
Richard Vance had stolen the company through fraudulent contracts.
Arthur had tried to expose him.
Then came the stroke.
Everyone assumed it was natural.
It wasn't.
Arthur had been poisoned.
The poison caused neurological damage.
The same kind found in Clara's system.
I looked at my father.
He had spent years trapped inside his own body while the people who hurt him continued living freely.
Derek found another document.
It showed payments from Richard Vance to a private medical company.
The payments started twenty years ago.
My father's stroke hadn't been an accident.
It had been the beginning.
Then we found the biggest secret.
Arthur wasn't merely a former partner.
He was the original majority owner.
Vance Logistics had been built using his money.
Richard had taken control after Arthur became incapacitated.
And Clara had discovered the proof.
Mason asked, “Where did Clara keep the original documents?”
Derek looked at the blue box.
“Maybe she didn't.”
Lily suddenly spoke.
“Mommy had another hiding place.”
We all looked at her.
“Where?”
“In Daddy's truck.”
I froze.
“My truck?”
“She told me it was safe because Uncle Derek never looked there.”
We drove to the impound lot.
The truck had been searched.
But Lily remembered something.
“Under the seat.”
We removed the seat.
Nothing.
Then Derek found a loose panel beneath the carpet.
Inside was a small memory card.
Mason inserted it into a laptop.
A video appeared.
Clara sat in front of the camera.
Her eyes were tired.
She looked directly into the lens.
“Alex, if you're watching this, I'm probably gone.”
I closed my eyes.
She continued.
“I found out Richard Vance isn't working alone.”
She paused.
“There's someone above him.”
The screen flickered.
Clara whispered:
“Someone with enough power to make police reports disappear.”
A name appeared on the screen.
MARTIN HARRISON.
Mason stared at it.
“That's the state's deputy attorney general.”
Clara continued.
“He owns the company secretly through three offshore trusts.”
Then she said the sentence that changed everything.
“And Alex... he knows about you.”
The video ended.
I looked at Mason.
“What does that mean?”
He didn't answer.
His phone rang.
He listened.
Then his face changed.
“Detective?”
He slowly lowered the phone.
“Martin Harrison just called the police chief.”
“What did he say?”
“He ordered us to release your family.”
I stared at him.
“He can't do that.”
Mason's expression hardened.
“No.”
May you like
He looked at the door.
“But someone just tried.”
