Chapter 9 - THE BOX THAT SURVIVED
The fire destroyed the lobby.
It did not reach the underground vault.
Victor had been too late.
The bank manager opened my safe-deposit box under police supervision the next morning.
Inside were three things.
A ledger.
A cassette tape.
And a photograph of my father standing beside Stellan’s father, Anthony Cross.
Daniel Vale looked like me around the eyes.
Stellan stared at the ledger.
“This is what Victor has been hunting for twenty years.”
The pages recorded illegal transfers, judges paid through consulting firms, shell companies, and names I recognized from Chicago headlines.
One name appeared again and again.
Victor Cross.
Another shocked Stellan.
Elias Ward.
Elias stood behind us.
He saw it too.
“No.”
Stellan looked at him.
“Your father?”
Elias nodded slowly. “My father was Harold Ward.”
The ledger listed payments to H. Ward Security.
Elias’s father had died fifteen years earlier.
“I didn’t know,” Elias said.
Stellan did not accuse him.
Not yet.
We played the cassette.
My father’s voice filled the tiny bank conference room.
Loretta, if you are hearing this, Victor found out I copied the books. Anthony says he can protect you and the baby, but I don’t trust anyone anymore.
My mother started crying.
The recording continued.
There is one person inside Anthony’s house feeding Victor information. I don’t know the name. I only know the code Victor uses for him.
A pause.
The Shepherd.
Stellan looked at Elias.
Elias looked offended. “That is not me.”
Then the tape crackled again.
My father said:
If Selene ever meets the Cross boy, keep them apart. Not because of him. Because Victor will see their children as a threat he can never tolerate.
My blood went cold.
Then the bank manager entered.
“Mr. Cross, someone is asking for Miss Vale downstairs.”
“Who?”
May you like
The manager hesitated.
“He says his name is Daniel Vale.”
