Chapter 6
Agatha refused to name him.
So did Julian.
That told me the third person was still alive.
And powerful enough to frighten both of them.
I moved Merrick and Cecily into my private rooms.
Four guards outside.
Two inside the corridor.
Nobody entered without me.
Agatha laughed when she heard.
“You're turning the estate into a nursery.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“A trap.”
Her expression changed.
Julian noticed.
That was enough.
I gathered the senior capos in the main reception room.
Not to explain everything.
Just enough.
“My son's emergency button recorded Agatha abusing him.”
Several men looked at her.
She lifted her chin.
“I disciplined a spoiled child.”
Nobody responded.
She continued.
“At least someone in this house still remembers that pity creates weakness.”
One older capo frowned.
“He's three.”
Agatha smiled.
“And?”
That one word hurt her more than any accusation I could make.
Men looked away from her.
Not respectfully.
Disgusted.
Good.
Then I placed Julian's old capo pin on the table.
“He was in Elena's car before she died.”
Julian stood.
“This is theater.”
I ignored him.
“Northgate had a vehicle on Blackwood Road.”
Three men shifted.
They knew what that meant.
I continued.
“Elena had discovered Julian was dealing with them behind my back.”
Julian laughed.
“Dealing?”
He looked around the room.
“You all benefited from what I did.”
Nobody answered.
His voice rose.
“You think Conrad kept this family untouched because he's brilliant?”
He pointed at me.
“I kept Northgate quiet.”
I looked at him.
“By selling them access.”
“By buying peace.”
“With my wife?”
His face changed.
Only slightly.
Enough.
I leaned forward.
“What did you give them the night Elena died?”
Agatha stood.
“Stop.”
I turned.
There was fear in her eyes.
Finally.
Not fear of me.
Fear of the answer.
Julian looked at his mother.
Then at the men around him.
He understood something she didn't.
His position was already gone.
Silence wouldn't save him.
So he chose spite.
“Ask Leon.”
The room changed.
Leon Vale.
One of my father's oldest captains.
Sixty-three.
At my right hand since I was eighteen.
Standing three places from me.
He didn't move.
Nobody else did either.
I looked at him.
“Leon?”
Agatha closed her eyes.
Julian smiled.
There it was.
The third person.
Leon spoke calmly.
“Julian is desperate.”
Maybe.
But not stupid enough to invent that name now.
I watched him.
“You knew about Northgate?”
“No.”
“Blackwood Road?”
“Only what everyone knew.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket.
Pressed the emergency-button audio again.
Agatha's voice.
Julian's panic.
Then the part I had not played earlier.
Just before I entered the gallery, the microphone captured Julian whispering:
Leon said Conrad is still upstairs. Do it now.
Nobody moved.
Julian's face went white.
Agatha stared at him.
“You fool.”
Leon looked at the floor.
I smiled without humor.
“Interesting.”
Agatha tried to recover.
“That could mean anything.”
“It means Leon knew you planned to hurt my son.”
“He didn't.”
Leon finally spoke.
“I knew she wanted to speak to Merrick.”
“On the floor?”
“No.”
“Without his emergency button?”
Silence.
I walked toward him.
“What were they trying to make my son forget?”
Leon looked at Agatha.
She looked back.
And there it was.
Not loyalty.
Coordination.
Eighteen months old.
Maybe older.
Agatha suddenly laughed.
“You really think Merrick remembers anything useful?”
I turned.
She smiled.
“He couldn't even tell you who was driving.”
I stopped.
Nobody had mentioned the driver.
The official story said Elena had been driving.
I looked at Agatha.
“You just said he couldn't identify the driver.”
Her smile vanished.
I stepped closer.
“Why would that matter if Elena was driving?”
Julian whispered:
“Mom.”
Too late.
Leon started toward the door.
My bodyguards blocked him.
May you like
And for the first time since Elena died, I finally knew the lie had started before the crash.
My wife had not been driving that car.
