Chapter 13 - The Coast House
I did not go alone.
I went with twenty federal agents who stayed out of sight.
Keene had taught me that much.
The coast house stood above black water near Gloucester.
No lights except one room upstairs.
I wore a wire.
Dana stayed in command.
Lily stayed at the safe site.
She hated it.
I loved her enough to let her hate me.
Thomas Keene opened the door himself.
Seventy-two.
“Michael Ward.”
“Thomas.”
He smiled.
“You look old.”
“So do you.”
The black case sat on the dining table.
Open.
Satellite phone.
Old credential.
Sealed envelope.
Keene tapped the envelope.
“Never opened this?”
“No.”
“Sarah hoped you wouldn’t.”
My chest tightened.
“Where’s the journal page?”
“Sit.”
“No.”
He sighed.
“You never learned patience.”
“You buried a federal case.”
“I contained a disaster.”
“You got Ben killed.”
His face changed.
Barely.
“Ben got Ben killed.”
That was enough to make my hands shake.
He admitted using Ben to control Ashbridge.
He admitted feeding selective information to Harrison Whitmore.
He admitted forcing Caleb Voss underground.
But he claimed his goal had been national stability.
“You protected criminals.”
“I protected systems.”
“You protected yourself.”
Then he slid Sarah’s missing journal page across the table.
The sentence continued:
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO BEN, LOOK AT MICHAEL’S EASTER CARD FROM BEN. HE HID THE KEY THERE.
Ben mailed us an Easter card the year before he died.
A stupid card with a cartoon rabbit.
Sarah kept old family cards in a cedar box.
Keene leaned forward.
“I need the key.”
“To what?”
“The Ashbridge master archive.”
“You don’t have it?”
“No.”
For the first time, he looked worried.
“All these years, I thought Voss had it.”
Then a red laser dot appeared on Keene’s chest.
From outside.
Not ours.
Dana shouted in my earpiece.
“DOWN!”
May you like
I hit the floor.
The window exploded.
