Chương 5
“Jacket.”
“That proves nothing.”
“It proves enough for me to ask.”
Nathan exhaled.
“Julian, listen to me.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed.
Nathan almost never began sentences that way.
“What?”
“If something happened tonight, don’t start pulling threads without knowing where they go.”
Marcus turned toward him.
Julian felt the room become very still.
“What threads?”
Nathan did not answer.
Julian’s voice dropped.
“What do you know about Grace Bennett?”
The silence lasted three seconds.
Four.
Five.
Then Nathan said, “Who told you that name?”
Julian ended the call.
Nathan called back immediately.
Julian watched the phone vibrate across the desk until it stopped.
Marcus said, “You’re not answering?”
“No.”
“That usually works better when you’re trying to learn things.”
Julian looked at him.
Marcus raised both hands slightly.
“Just an observation.”
The phone began vibrating again.
Julian picked it up on the third ring.
Nathan spoke before he could.
“Don’t hang up again.”
“Then answer the question.”
“I can’t do this over the phone.”
“You just told me not to pull threads.”
“I meant it.”
“So did I.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“Where is Grace now?”
Julian’s eyes shifted toward the hall.
“Safe.”
“With you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Julian’s grip tightened.
Nathan continued, “Is she in the house?”
“Yes.”
A breath came through the line.
Not relief.
Something closer to dread.
“You need to get her out.”
Julian went still.
“Why?”
“Because if they know she’s there, they know she talked.”
“Who is they?”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“No.”
“Julian.”
“If you leave wherever you are, I’ll know you’re involved.”
Nathan went silent.
Julian heard the restaurant noise again, faint and ordinary behind him.
A server laughed somewhere near Nathan’s table.
Glassware clinked.
“You think I’m threatening her?” Nathan asked.
“I think you knew her name.”
“I knew Claire’s name too.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Nathan exhaled slowly.
“Put Marcus on.”
Marcus shook his head.
Julian almost smiled at that.
“No.”
“Then listen to me.”
Nathan’s voice lost its irritation.
“If Grace has what I think she has, the people watching your gate are not there to scare her.”
Julian’s eyes settled on the security monitor.
“What do you think she has?”
“A key.”
Marcus straightened.
Julian said nothing.
Nathan heard the silence.
“Damn it.”
“You knew.”
“I knew Claire had given something to someone outside the family.”
“Who told you?”
“Claire.”
Julian felt the room narrow around him.
“She told you.”
“Once.”
“When?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Two days before the crash.”
Julian’s chair moved backward sharply against the floor.
Marcus took half a step toward him.
Julian ignored him.
“And you never told me.”
“I didn’t know where it led.”
“You knew she was afraid.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she had given evidence to someone.”
“I didn’t know it was evidence.”
“What did you think it was?”
“A backup plan.”
Julian laughed once.
There was nothing amused in it.
“Against me?”
Nathan said nothing.
Julian closed his eyes.
“Against me?”
“No.”
The answer came quickly this time.
“Not you.”
Julian opened his eyes.
“Then who?”
Nathan’s voice dropped.
“Dad.”
Julian’s hand went still.
For several seconds, even Marcus did not move.
Their father had been dead six years.
Arthur Hale had built the first legitimate pieces of the family empire before Julian was old enough to drive.
He had also built the parts nobody put on letterhead.
Julian had inherited both.
Nathan had spent most of his adult life pretending he had inherited neither.
“That’s impossible,” Julian said.
“No.”
“He was dead four years before Claire.”
“I know.”
“Then why would she be afraid of him?”
“She wasn’t.”
Nathan paused.
“She was afraid of what he left behind.”
Julian stared at the black screen where Nathan’s name glowed.
“What did he leave?”
“You should ask Adrian.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“Why?”
“Because Adrian was there.”
The line went quiet.
Julian heard his own breathing.
Marcus looked at him.
Julian said, “Where?”
Nathan answered softly.
“The warehouse on Mercer.”
Julian’s eyes shifted to Marcus.
Marcus’s expression changed.
The Mercer warehouse had burned seven years earlier.
One employee had died.
The official report blamed faulty electrical wiring.
Julian had been in Chicago the night it happened.
Nathan had been in Miami.
Adrian had told them both he was in Boston.
“Adrian said he wasn’t there.”
“I know what Adrian said.”
“How do you know he was?”
“Because I saw him leave.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“You were there too.”
Nathan did not answer.
“Nathan.”
“I got there after the fire started.”
“Why?”
“Dad called me.”
“From where?”
“The warehouse.”
Julian looked toward Marcus.
Marcus’s face had gone unreadable.
Julian said, “And you stayed quiet for seven years.”
Nathan’s voice sharpened.
“You think you’re the only person who was afraid of him?”
Arthur Hale had never raised his voice when angered.
That had been worse.
Julian remembered being sixteen and watching his father quietly remove a man from Christmas dinner because the man had interrupted him twice.
Nobody saw that man again.
At the time, Julian had told himself there were reasons.
There were always reasons in Arthur’s world.
Nathan continued, “Claire found something after Lily was born.”
“What?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“That phrase is getting old.”
“I know enough to tell you this is bigger than whatever you think tonight is.”
Julian stood.
“Then come here.”
“No.”
“You just said you would.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Why?”
“Because if someone is tracking me, I lead them straight to you.”
“You’re suddenly cautious?”
“I’m suddenly paying attention.”
Julian walked toward the door.
“Where are you?”
Nathan gave a tired laugh.
“You really think I’m telling you that now?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
The line disconnected.
Julian stared at the phone.
Marcus said, “Want him found?”
“Yes.”
“Quietly?”
“Very.”
Marcus reached for his own phone.
Julian stopped him.
“Not through our people.”
Marcus looked up.
“Then who?”
Julian thought for a moment.
“Use Elena’s nephew.”
Marcus blinked.
“The accountant?”
“He works in fraud investigations.”
“He also hates us.”
May you like
“That’s why.”
Marcus almost smiled.
