Chương 5
Margaret looked down at the letter.
There it was again.
Not our son is in danger.
Not Maya is missing.
Not the children nearly froze.
Material.
“You have had eleven years,” she said softly, “and you are still worried about records.”
“You have no idea what is in those records.”
“Then tell me.”
“I cannot do that here.”
“Of course.”
Richard’s voice rose for the first time.
“This is not some drawing-room betrayal, Margaret. There are thousands of employees, lenders, pension obligations, active contracts, criminal exposure—”
“Whose?”
He stopped.
“Whose criminal exposure?”
The train jolted.
Then, slowly, the platform began to move.
The switch had cleared.
Bellweather Pass slipped past the windows one brass lamp at a time. Mercer’s SUV remained beside the station for several seconds before disappearing behind blowing snow.
A minute later the connecting door rattled.
Helen checked the latch.
“Someone’s trying it.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“Martin has a carriage key.”
Helen stared at him.
“You allowed your security chief universal access to a private passenger train?”
“It’s a charter protocol.”
Helen drew the secondary brass bolt.
“Not anymore.”
The door handle stopped moving.
Margaret read the final page.
If I do not reach Denver, call Ava Morales. Her number is below. Give her the key. Do not give the key to Richard. Do not give it to Mercer.
There is something else you need to know.
Dad did not cause every part of this.
I did things I am ashamed of. I stayed gone even after I learned you were probably safe. I stayed gone because coming back meant admitting what I had agreed to. Then I had a wife. Then Noah. Then Ellie. Each year made the lie bigger.
I wanted to call you a hundred times.
I didn’t.
You have the right to hate me for that.
But please don’t let my children pay for what I did.
I love you.
Daniel.
Margaret held the page without moving.
There were griefs a person could practice.
She had practiced Daniel’s death.
She knew how to pass his birthday. She knew how to walk through the family house without opening the downstairs closet where his ski jacket still hung. She knew which friends could mention him without making her leave the room.
This was different.
The dead did not apologize.
The dead did not have children.
The dead did not hide.
She had spent eleven years loving someone who had no ability to choose her.
Now she had to live with the fact that he had.
And had not.
Ellie whispered, “Grandma?”
Margaret looked down.
Nobody had told the child to call her that.
The word was so ordinary it nearly destroyed her.
“Yes?”
“Can Bunny have milk?”
Margaret stared.
Noah covered his face with one hand.
“Ellie.”
“What?”
“He’s stuffed.”
“He’s thirsty.”
Margaret laughed.
This time the sound came out wrong and became something else halfway through. She covered her mouth.
Ellie looked alarmed.
Margaret recovered.
“Of course,” she said. “But only a little. He has a very small stomach.”
Ellie considered this.
Then she tipped an imaginary drop from her cup toward the rabbit’s mouth.
Richard turned away.
Margaret saw him wipe one eye with his thumb.
She did not care.
Not yet.
Helen crouched beside Margaret.
“Ava Morales?”
Margaret handed her the final page.
“Call her.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Do not use the train Wi-Fi.”
Helen looked up.
“Why?”
“Because Martin’s team monitors our network.”
Margaret stared at him.
Helen slowly lowered her phone.
“That would have been useful information ten minutes ago.”
Richard reached into his overcoat.
Noah tensed.
Richard stopped, opened his hand, and removed his own phone with two fingers.
“This has an independent satellite connection.”
Margaret almost refused.
Then she thought of Daniel bleeding somewhere in the storm.
“Put it on the table.”
Richard did.
Helen checked it, turned off its Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and manually entered the number from Daniel’s letter.
“Speaker?” she asked.
Margaret shook her head.
“Not with the children.”
Helen moved to the far end of the car.
A woman answered on the fourth ring.
Helen spoke quietly.
Her expression changed almost immediately.
She turned.
“She knows Daniel.”
Margaret’s heart kicked hard.
Helen listened.
“Ms. Morales, Margaret Whitmore is here. Noah and Ellie are safe.”
A pause.
“Yes. Both.”
Another pause.
Helen looked at Margaret.
“She wants to speak with you.”
Margaret took the phone.
“This is Margaret.”
The woman on the other end spoke quickly but not chaotically.
“Mrs. Whitmore, my name is Ava Morales. I represent Daniel Bennett.”
Margaret closed her eyes at the name Bennett.
“Is my son alive?”
“He was alive when I spoke to him at two twelve this afternoon.”
“What happened after that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where was he?”
“I’m not going to give his location over this line.”
“This is his father’s satellite phone.”
“Then definitely not.”
Despite everything, Margaret respected her immediately.
“My grandchildren are here.”
“I know. Daniel told me that if he couldn’t bring them to you himself, Noah had instructions.”
“He’s seven.”
“I told him that.”
“What did he say?”
A pause.
“That he didn’t have anyone else left he trusted.”
Margaret looked at Richard.
He was watching the snow.
“Where is Maya?”
Another pause.
“I spoke to her at approximately four thirty. She was safe then.”
“Where?”
“I can’t give you that either.”
“I need something you can give me.”
Ava exhaled.
“Daniel has spent almost two years collecting records related to Redstone and several later contracts. Some of what he has concerns Richard Whitmore. Some concerns Martin Mercer. Daniel believed Mercer learned three days ago that he intended to provide those records to federal investigators.”
Richard’s head turned.
Margaret held up a finger.
“Go on.”
“Daniel was supposed to meet me tomorrow morning in Denver.”
“Christmas morning?”
“People commit crimes on holidays, Mrs. Whitmore.”
“Yes. My education is improving.”
Ava made a sound that might have been the beginning of a laugh.
May you like
Then she became serious again.
“He called me after an encounter this afternoon. He said Mercer’s men had found him. He was taking the children to you because he believed you were the one person Richard could not fully control.”
