Chapter 15 - RICHARD’S REAL PLAN
Mara stared at Sarah.
“Richard is in police custody.”
Sarah shook her head.
“Then whoever is shooting is doing exactly what Richard planned.”
Another bullet struck the wall.
Mara radioed local officers.
“Lock down the block.”
Caleb remained on the floor beside his mother.
Sarah touched his face with trembling hands.
“You’re real.”
Caleb could barely speak.
“So are you.”
Mara forced herself to focus.
“Sarah, explain what you meant.”
“Richard told me years ago that if he ever got arrested, I should assume Vale would use his emergency plan.”
“What emergency plan?”
“Destroy every witness.”
“Richard created it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Vale ordered him to.”
Another shot hit the roof.
Police sirens approached.
The sniper stopped firing.
Mara waited.
“Continue.”
Sarah looked toward Caleb.
“I do not want him hearing this.”
Caleb shook his head.
“You’ve been gone my whole life.”
“I’m hearing everything.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Then nodded.
“Richard started working for Vale when he was twenty-five.”
“Vale used him to intimidate contractors.”
“Pay officials.”
“Hide money.”
“Eventually, Richard became the person Vale used when money was not enough.”
“Murder.”
Sarah looked away.
“Yes.”
“Did Richard kill Sean?”
“No.”
Mara’s breath caught.
“Who did?”
“Vale’s security chief.”
“Name.”
“Gordon Pike.”
Mara recognized it.
The masked man killed at Blackridge had been identified as Gordon Pike.
“He’s dead.”
“Then at least one ghost is finished.”
“Why was Sean killed?”
“He was a patrol officer back then.”
“He stopped a vehicle Richard was using to move me.”
Mara stared.
“Sean knew you were alive.”
“Yes.”
“He wanted to report it.”
“Richard begged him not to.”
“Why?”
“Because Vale believed I was already dead.”
Mara understood.
“If Sean reported you, Vale would know Richard betrayed him.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Richard convinced Sean to help us reach a safe house.”
“Pike followed.”
Sarah’s voice trembled.
“Sean stayed behind.”
Mara closed her eyes.
“You saw him die?”
“No.”
“I heard the gunshots.”
Richard had buried Sean at Blackridge afterward.
Not necessarily as the killer.
But still as an accomplice.
Mara hated him for that almost as much.
“Why did Richard continue working for Vale?”
Sarah looked toward Caleb.
“Because Vale knew Caleb existed.”
Caleb’s face hardened.
“So my father became a murderer to keep me safe.”
Sarah shook her head.
“No.”
“Do not romanticize him.”
“He chose fear over courage again and again.”
“He saved me.”
“He abandoned you.”
“He protected people.”
“He killed people.”
“He loved you.”
“He used that love as an excuse.”
Caleb looked down.
Sarah’s voice softened.
“He is complicated.”
“But complicated does not mean innocent.”
Mara respected her immediately.
“What was Nathan Parker’s role?”
Sarah’s expression changed.
“Nathan found the shipment records.”
“What shipment?”
“Materials were only part of it.”
“What else?”
“People.”
Mara stared.
“Explain.”
“Vale used government redevelopment contracts to move undocumented workers across state lines.”
“Some were exploited through illegal labor networks.”
“Others were used as identities for financial fraud.”
Caleb looked sick.
“Parker Meridian software tracked shipments.”
“Yes.”
“Nathan saw impossible patterns.”
“Trucks listed as carrying steel crossed checkpoints with passenger weights.”
“He investigated.”
“And found you?”
Sarah nodded.
“I contacted him.”
“Did Richard know?”
“Eventually.”
“What happened?”
“Nathan wanted to go federal.”
“Richard begged him not to.”
“Why?”
“Because exposing Vale would expose Sarah and Caleb.”
Mara understood the impossible knot.
Nathan wanted justice.
Richard believed exposure would get his hidden son killed.
“So they fought.”
“Yes.”
“Did Richard kill Nathan?”
Sarah was silent.
“Sarah.”
“No.”
Mara stared.
“You’re certain?”
“I know who sabotaged Nathan’s boat.”
“Who?”
Sarah looked toward the broken window.
“Rebecca Sloan.”
Mara froze.
“Claire’s sister?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She was being blackmailed.”
“By Richard?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then by whom?”
“Tom Sloan.”
Mara stared.
“Rebecca’s husband?”
Sarah nodded.
“Tom was not an innocent victim.”
Back at Daniel’s cabin, Claire received Mara’s call.
She listened in stunned silence.
“Tom blackmailed Rebecca?”
“Yes.”
“With the affair?”
“And other things.”
“What other things?”
Mara hesitated.
“Tom worked for Vale.”
Claire looked at Laura.
Laura had gone pale.
“Laura knows.”
Claire turned.
“Do you?”
Laura closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Claire lowered the phone.
“You knew Tom worked for Vale.”
“He recruited me.”
Claire stared.
“Everyone knew everything except me.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“No?”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“My dead husband knew Richard.”
“My sister had an affair with Richard.”
“Her husband worked for Vale.”
“You worked for Richard.”
“Daniel knew Nathan was investigating him.”
“And I married the man in the middle of all of it.”
Laura looked ashamed.
“You were never supposed to be involved.”
“I was involved the moment Richard walked into my life.”
Mara interrupted through the phone.
“Claire.”
“Yes.”
“Sarah says Nathan’s death was intended to frighten him.”
“What?”
“The sabotage was not supposed to explode the boat.”
“Then what was supposed to happen?”
“The engine was supposed to fail.”
“Richard planned to arrive and ‘rescue’ him.”
Claire stared.
“Why?”
“To rebuild trust.”
“Who modified the plan?”
“Tom.”
Claire felt sick.
“Why?”
“Vale wanted Nathan dead.”
“Tom made sure the sabotage would kill him.”
“And Rebecca?”
“She carried the device to the marina without knowing it had been changed.”
Claire whispered.
“So she helped kill Nathan without understanding what she was carrying.”
“That’s Sarah’s account.”
“And Richard?”
“He knew about the sabotage.”
“But thought Nathan would survive.”
“Yes.”
Claire sat down.
Richard had not personally killed Nathan.
But he had participated in a plan to terrorize him.
He had married Nathan’s widow later.
He had lived in Nathan’s home.
He had helped raise Nathan’s son.
There was no version of the truth that made Richard anything but monstrous.
Then Ethan spoke.
“Why did Richard marry Mom?”
Mara heard him.
Sarah answered over speaker.
“Because Vale ordered him to.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Sarah continued.
“Vale needed access to Nathan’s trust records.”
“Richard initially refused.”
“Then Vale threatened Caleb.”
“So Richard married Claire.”
“Yes.”
“But something changed.”
“What?”
Sarah’s voice became quieter.
“He fell in love with her.”
Claire stared at the phone.
Ethan looked at her.
Nobody spoke.
Sarah continued.
“That made everything worse.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard wanted the money and Claire.”
“He wanted to protect Caleb and Ethan.”
“He wanted Vale satisfied.”
“He wanted to escape.”
“He kept trying to have every outcome at once.”
“And eventually there were too many lies.”
Claire swallowed.
“That still doesn’t explain the coffin.”
Sarah’s answer came immediately.
“Yes, it does.”
“How?”
“Richard was not planning to bury you.”
Claire froze.
“What?”
“He was trying to hide you from Vale.”
Everyone in the cabin went silent.
Claire whispered.
“He taped my mouth.”
“He bound me.”
“He put me inside a coffin.”
Sarah did not defend him.
“Yes.”
“He told Vale you were dead.”
“He forged the certificate.”
“He planned to move the coffin after the service.”
“To where?”
“To me.”
Claire stared.
“That is insane.”
“Yes.”
“He thought if Vale believed you were buried, you could disappear.”
“Then why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because you would never agree.”
“Correct.”
“And because the coffin contained the chemical evidence.”
Claire understood.
“He planned to send both me and the evidence to you.”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked confused.
“Then why did he stop me from opening the coffin?”
Sarah answered.
“Because if you exposed Claire publicly, Vale would know she was alive.”
Claire shook her head.
“He drew a gun.”
“He held Ethan hostage.”
“I’m not saying Richard was protecting you correctly.”
“I’m saying his plan collapsed.”
Claire stood.
“He could have simply told the police.”
“No.”
Sarah’s voice became grim.
“Because Richard believed the police were compromised.”
Mara looked at Sergeant Lewis.
Some clearly were.
Sarah continued.
“He trusted nobody.”
“And every time he chose secrecy, he became more like Vale.”
Claire looked out the cabin window.
She wanted the truth to simplify Richard into a villain.
Instead it made him worse.
A coward.
A criminal.
A man who occasionally tried to save people after helping endanger them.
Then Daniel’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Who is this?”
Everyone watched him.
Daniel put the call on speaker.
Richard’s voice filled the cabin.
“Claire.”
Claire stared.
“You’re in custody.”
“Not anymore.”
Mara cursed through the other phone.
Alarms sounded in the background at Blackridge.
Richard had escaped during a prisoner transfer.
Claire tightened her grip.
“What do you want?”
Richard’s voice was calm.
“Vale opened Nathan’s archive.”
“I know.”
“He has the names.”
“What names?”
“Every federal investigator Nathan contacted before he died.”
Claire felt cold.
Richard continued.
“Vale will start killing them.”
“Then turn yourself in.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I know where Vale is going.”
“Where?”
Richard paused.
“Parker Meridian headquarters.”
Claire stared.
“Why?”
“To erase the original server.”
Laura stood.
“That server was decommissioned years ago.”
Richard answered.
“No.”
“Nathan created a hidden mirror.”
Ethan looked toward the silver key image Mara had sent earlier.
Richard continued.
“The key opens the physical vault.”
“And the code opens the server.”
Claire understood.
“Vale has the code but not the key.”
“Yes.”
“We have the key.”
“Yes.”
Richard’s voice became deadly serious.
May you like
“And that is why every person working for Jonathan Vale is now coming for Ethan.”
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