Chapter 10 - The Deposit Box
The bank opened at nine.
We were there at eight forty.
Samuel had the trust documents.
Nina had a court order.
I had Ryan’s texted photograph of the key code he sent at 3:17 a.m.
He had not answered since.
The box sat in a private room under fluorescent lights.
Inside was a sealed plastic pouch.
A ledger.
A flash drive.
And a letter addressed to me.
Dad’s handwriting again.
MADDIE - IF RYAN GIVES YOU THIS KEY, HE HAS FINALLY CHOSEN.
I sat down.
Samuel looked away while I read.
Dad wrote that Ryan had once warned him about Victoria’s pressure before the wedding.
Ryan had not been innocent.
But he had been afraid.
Thomas believed fear might eventually become conscience.
“If that day comes,” Dad wrote, “do not confuse one decent act with a clean history.”
I read the line three times.
The ledger listed shell companies and transfers.
One entry stood out.
WESTBRIDGE SAFETY - $240,000.
Memo: ROUTE 18 / T.C.
My father’s initials.
My hands went numb.
Nina plugged in the flash drive.
Video appeared.
A parking garage.
Dad stood beside Caleb Mercer.
Caleb held a folder.
Then Victoria entered frame.
No sound.
Dad pointed at the folder.
Victoria pointed at him.
Caleb stepped between them.
The timestamp was twelve hours before Dad’s crash.
Then another car entered the garage.
George Vance got out.
Ryan’s father.
The four of them argued.
At the end, George shoved Dad against a concrete pillar.
The video ended.
Samuel whispered, “Thomas never told me George was there.”
My phone rang.
Ryan.
I answered.
His voice was strained.
“Madeline, Caleb has Elise.”
I stood.
“What?”
“He says he’ll trade her for the ledger.”
Nina shook her head violently.
May you like
Ryan continued.
“And he knows you have it.”
