Chapter 9 - THE GRAVES WITHOUT NAMES
Mara did not remember ending the call.
For several seconds, she could only stare at the private cemetery through the drone feed.
Twelve headstones stood in neat rows.
Most belonged to Vale family members.
Three plots had no markers.
The tactical commander spoke.
“Detective.”
Mara did not respond.
“Detective Quinn.”
She finally looked at him.
“We proceed according to plan.”
“Richard may be manipulating you.”
“I know.”
“You should step back.”
“No.”
“Mara.”
“No.”
Her voice became firm again.
“Contain the estate.”
“No one enters or leaves.”
“Bomb team checks the coffin.”
“Second team takes the north field.”
“Third team approaches the chapel from the creek.”
The commander hesitated.
Then nodded.
At the secure facility, Claire watched the operation through Mara’s video link.
Ethan sat beside her.
Laura stood near the screen.
Rebecca remained visible near the chapel.
Richard had moved out of view.
Claire whispered, “She warned us.”
Laura nodded.
“Rebecca is not helping him.”
“We don’t know.”
“She held up a warning.”
“She also helped steal the coffin.”
“Maybe because Richard forced her.”
Claire wanted to believe it.
Then Ethan pointed at the screen.
“Look.”
A vehicle was moving near the far tree line.
Mara saw it too.
“Zoom.”
The drone image sharpened.
A black pickup drove toward the rear access road.
Someone was inside.
The tactical commander ordered a unit to intercept.
The truck accelerated.
It crashed through a wooden gate.
Police vehicles moved in.
The pickup stopped.
The driver ran.
Officers tackled him near a ditch.
Mara waited.
Then a voice came over the radio.
“Suspect detained.”
“Identify.”
A pause.
“Victor Saye.”
Laura looked toward Claire.
“The accountant.”
Mara’s team searched him.
He carried two passports.
Thirty thousand dollars in cash.
A satellite phone.
And a remote detonator.
Mara stared at the device.
“Bomb team, freeze.”
The team approaching the coffin stopped immediately.
Victor was forced to his knees.
Mara reached him two minutes later.
“Where are the explosives?”
Victor smiled.
“You should worry about where they aren’t.”
Mara grabbed his jacket.
“How many devices?”
He said nothing.
Mara lowered her voice.
“Richard is inside.”
Victor’s smile changed.
“You think Richard matters?”
“Vale?”
Victor looked away.
That was enough.
“Where is Senator Vale?”
Victor laughed.
“You still think he’s on the property.”
Mara froze.
The black sedan seen near the hospital.
The tactical warning.
The remote surveillance.
Vale had never needed to be present.
He had positioned everyone else.
Mara looked at the satellite phone.
“Trace every recent connection.”
An analyst took it.
Then shouting erupted over the radio.
“Movement at the chapel!”
Mara turned.
Rebecca burst from the side door.
She ran toward the cemetery.
The masked gunman followed.
Police shouted for him to stop.
He raised his weapon.
Officers fired.
The gunman dropped.
Rebecca kept running.
Richard appeared behind her.
He fired toward police.
Then retreated into the chapel.
“GO!”
Tactical officers advanced.
Rebecca reached the cemetery.
Mara ran toward her.
Rebecca collapsed before they met.
Claire watched from the safe facility.
“Rebecca.”
Ethan gripped her hand.
Mara reached Claire’s sister.
Rebecca was alive.
Her wrists were bruised.
There was blood on her face.
“Where is Richard?”
“Under the chapel.”
“What’s down there?”
“Tunnels.”
“Where do they lead?”
“The cemetery.”
Mara glanced toward the unmarked graves.
Rebecca grabbed her arm.
“Don’t open the coffin.”
“We found a detonator.”
“That’s not why.”
“What is inside it?”
Rebecca looked terrified.
“Not just the key.”
Mara stared.
“What else?”
“Richard put something beneath Claire before the funeral.”
Claire heard through the connection.
Her entire body went rigid.
“What?”
Rebecca continued.
“I saw him.”
“What did he put there?”
“A metal case.”
“Size?”
“About twelve inches.”
“What was inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“He had Ethan.”
Claire flinched.
Rebecca began crying.
“He showed me photographs of Ethan sleeping.”
“He told me if I said anything, Ethan would disappear before the funeral.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Rebecca looked toward the chapel.
“I thought Claire was dead.”
“Then why steal the coffin?”
“Richard called me last night.”
“He told me Ethan had hidden something in it.”
“He said if I didn’t help, he would kill Ethan.”
Mara believed her.
At least partly.
“What does Vale have on you?”
Rebecca’s expression collapsed.
“My husband.”
Claire whispered.
“Tom?”
Rebecca nodded though Claire could not see her directly.
“Tom didn’t die of a heart attack.”
Claire stood.
“What?”
Rebecca looked toward the camera fixed to Mara’s vest.
“I’m sorry, Claire.”
“He found out about Richard two years ago.”
“He tried to warn me.”
“Then he died.”
“Richard showed me a recording.”
Claire felt tears burn her eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was scared.”
“You watched me marry him.”
“I was scared.”
“You let him live with Ethan.”
“I thought if I stayed close, I could protect you.”
Claire turned away.
Ethan stared at the floor.
Every adult around him seemed to have known pieces.
And every adult had chosen silence.
Mara questioned Rebecca quickly.
“Where does the tunnel exit?”
“Three places.”
“Barn.”
“Creek.”
“Cemetery mausoleum.”
“Richard will choose the creek.”
“No.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“He’ll choose the graves.”
“Why?”
“He wants you to dig.”
Mara’s stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Rebecca looked toward the unmarked plots.
“Because those graves aren’t empty.”
Mara thought of Sean.
“Who is buried there?”
“I only know one name.”
“Who?”
Rebecca hesitated.
Then looked straight at Mara.
“Your brother.”
Mara’s face lost all expression.
Rebecca continued.
“Richard told me he buried Sean himself.”
The detective’s hands shook once.
Then stopped.
“Why was Sean killed?”
Rebecca looked toward Victor Saye being held beside the vehicles.
“He discovered the same thing Nathan Parker discovered.”
Mara’s voice was barely audible.
“What thing?”
Rebecca swallowed.
“Vale didn’t build his empire by winning contracts.”
“He built it by making sure every person who could expose how he stole them eventually disappeared.”
A loud explosion erupted from beneath the chapel.
The ground shook.
Smoke burst from the windows.
Tactical officers fell back.
Claire screamed Mara’s name through the video link.
Mara turned.
The old chapel roof partially collapsed.
Then one of the unmarked graves opened from below.
Richard climbed out through a concealed hatch.
He was less than thirty feet from Mara.
He saw her.
She saw him.
Richard smiled.
Then he raised both hands.
“I surrender.”
Mara aimed her weapon.
“On your knees.”
Richard obeyed.
“Hands behind your head.”
He did it.
Officers surrounded him.
Rebecca stared in disbelief.
Claire did too.
Richard Hale had spent two days running.
Now he surrendered without resistance.
That frightened Claire more than if he had kept shooting.
Mara handcuffed him herself.
“Where is Vale?”
Richard smiled.
“You’re still asking the wrong question.”
“What is the right one?”
Richard looked toward the drone hovering overhead.
“Where is Ethan?”
Claire’s blood turned cold.
She pulled Ethan closer.
May you like
Then the lights inside the secure police facility went out.
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