Chapter 10 - GRANDPA’S HOUSE
I loved Grandpa Thomas.
That was what made the truth so difficult.
Bad people were supposed to look bad.
Grandpa wore sweater vests.
He smelled like coffee and peppermint.
He sent me books on my birthday.
When Mom couldn’t pay the electric bill the winter before, Grandpa gave her six hundred dollars.
Or I thought he gave it to her.
Years later, I learned Mom paid back every dollar.
Grandpa had insisted.
Vincent wanted Mom nowhere near him.
Mom disagreed.
“He’s my father-in-law.”
“He’s listed in Daniel’s files.”
“He was Daniel’s father.”
“Exactly.”
“You think he killed his own son?”
“I think we don’t know what he did.”
Mom stared at the photograph of Thomas Carter.
“What does the archive say?”
Bell opened Daniel’s notes.
T. CARTER — INTRODUCTION POINT.
MOVED VOSS TO FUND CONTACT.
WARNED TWICE.
NO LONGER TRUSTWORTHY.
Mom read it again.
“And that’s it?”
“There are bank transfers.”
“To Thomas?”
Bell nodded.
“Seven over four years.”
“How much?”
“Almost nine hundred thousand.”
Mom sat down.
“No.”
Vincent leaned against the counter.
“People do terrible things for less.”
“You’re enjoying this?”
His face hardened.
“No.”
“You always look like that?”
“Yes.”
She almost laughed.
Then didn’t.
Grandpa lived in Oak Park.
A brick house with blue shutters.
He had lived there since Daddy was a teenager.
Mom insisted on calling him.
Vincent insisted on listening.
Grandpa answered on the third ring.
“Megan?”
“Hi, Tom.”
Pause.
“You sound upset.”
Mom looked at Vincent.
“I need to ask you something.”
“Anything.”
“Did you know Leon Voss?”
Silence.
Grandpa breathed once.
Then said, “Where are you?”
Vincent’s eyes narrowed.
Mom’s face drained.
“At home.”
“Which home?”
Mom looked at Vincent.
Grandpa continued.
“You’re not at your apartment.”
“How do you know?”
Another pause.
“Megan, listen to me very carefully.”
Vincent moved closer to the phone.
Grandpa said, “Do not trust Vincent Kane.”
Vincent almost laughed.
Mom gripped the phone.
“Did you know Voss?”
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
“Did you work with him?”
“Yes.”
Mom closed her eyes.
“Did Daniel know?”
“Yes.”
“Did you hurt your son?”
Grandpa’s voice broke.
“No.”
For the first time, he sounded old.
“I tried to save him.”
Mom started crying.
“Then tell me the truth.”
“I can’t over the phone.”
“Why?”
“Because if Daniel’s files are open, people know.”
“What people?”
“People Voss answered to.”
Vincent’s expression changed.
Leon Voss had not been the top.
Grandpa continued.
“Bring Rory.”
Mom immediately said, “No.”
“Then don’t come.”
“Why does everyone want my daughter?”
“Because Daniel built the archive around her identity.”
“Why?”
“To make sure nobody could erase it without exposing themselves.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It will.”
Mom looked at Vincent.
He shook his head.
She ignored him.
“I’m coming alone.”
Grandpa said, “Megan—”
She hung up.
Vincent stared at her.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“He is Rory’s grandfather.”
“He is tied to Voss.”
“He says he tried to protect Daniel.”
“Bad men say useful things when cornered.”
Mom crossed her arms.
“Do you?”
Vincent went quiet.
She won that round.
They compromised.
Mom would go inside.
Bell would be nearby.
Vincent’s men would surround the block.
I would stay with Elena.
That lasted twelve minutes.
I was good at hiding.
I climbed into the back of Marco’s SUV before anyone noticed.
When he found me, we were already two blocks from Grandpa’s house.
He stared at me in the rearview mirror.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“I’m small.”
“Yes.”
“Very small.”
“Yes.”
“So I fit.”
He pulled over.
“No.”
“If you take me back, Mom goes inside without me.”
“That is the point.”
“Grandpa won’t tell her.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he asked for me.”
Marco shut his eyes.
“You’re going to take years off my life.”
“I’m four and a half.”
“I know.”
He called Vincent.
The conversation contained several words Mom didn’t like.
Eventually Vincent said, “Keep her in the vehicle.”
So I went to Grandpa’s street.
Mom entered the house.
Grandpa hugged her.
She didn’t hug back.
The house looked exactly as I remembered.
Brown couch.
Old clock.
Pictures everywhere.
Daddy at graduation.
Daddy as a child.
Daddy holding me.
Mom sat across from Grandpa.
“Tell me.”
Thomas Carter looked toward the front window.
“You shouldn’t have brought Kane.”
“He’s outside.”
“I know.”
“How?”
Grandpa smiled sadly.
“Vincent has never been subtle.”
Outside, Vincent probably took that personally.
Grandpa poured coffee.
Mom didn’t touch hers.
“When Daniel was twenty-six,” Grandpa began, “I introduced him to Leon Voss.”
Mom’s eyes hardened.
“Why?”
“I worked for the pension fund.”
“You told me you were in insurance.”
“I lied.”
“Everyone lied.”
Grandpa closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
He had been an internal compliance officer.
Leon Voss approached him through contractors.
At first, the scheme looked like ordinary political corruption.
Inflated bids.
Favored companies.
Kickbacks.
Thomas looked away.
“I took money.”
Mom whispered, “Nine hundred thousand dollars.”
He nodded.
“I told myself everyone did it.”
“Daniel found out.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He hated me.”
Grandpa’s voice broke.
“He should have.”
Daniel demanded that Thomas help expose Voss.
Thomas agreed.
They secretly copied records.
Then Voss discovered them.
“What happened the night Daniel died?” Mom asked.
Grandpa stared at his coffee.
“I begged him to leave Chicago.”
“He told me the same.”
“He refused.”
“Why?”
Grandpa looked toward the hallway.
“Because of you.”
Mom stopped.
“And Rory.”
“He thought if he ran, Voss would hunt you forever.”
“So he stayed.”
“He planned to turn over the files.”
“To police?”
Grandpa laughed bitterly.
“We didn’t know who was clean.”
“Then where?”
“Federal investigators.”
“What happened?”
Grandpa’s hands started shaking.
“Daniel never arrived.”
Mom went pale.
“You said you didn’t hurt him.”
“I didn’t.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“Voss?”
“I assumed so.”
“But?”
Grandpa looked at her.
“Voss swore he didn’t order Daniel killed.”
Mom stared.
“You believed him?”
“No.”
“Then why mention it?”
“Because someone stole part of Daniel’s archive before the crash.”
The room became silent.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What part?”
“The list of beneficiaries.”
“People receiving the stolen money?”
Grandpa nodded.
“The highest-level names.”
Mom’s face changed.
“Higher than Voss.”
“Yes.”
A sound came from upstairs.
Mom turned.
“What was that?”
Grandpa stood.
“Nothing.”
Another sound.
A floorboard.
Mom backed away.
“Who is here?”
Grandpa looked terrified.
“Megan.”
She moved toward the front door.
Grandpa grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t.”
Outside, Vincent saw the movement through the window.
He started toward the house.
Then every window shattered.
Gunfire ripped through the first floor.
Vincent dragged Mom to the floor through the broken front doorway.
Grandpa disappeared into the hallway.
Marco threw himself over me inside the SUV.
“Down!”
I screamed for Mom.
Cars appeared from both ends of the street.
Men poured out.
Not Voss’s men.
Professionals.
They moved differently.
Vincent’s security team fired back.
Bell called for tactical units.
Grandpa crawled into the living room.
His shirt was red.
Mom screamed.
“Tom!”
Vincent pulled him behind the wall.
Grandpa grabbed Mom’s hand.
“They found me.”
“Who?”
His eyes moved toward me through the broken window.
“Daniel was right.”
“About what?”
Grandpa struggled to breathe.
“The archive was never about money.”
Mom leaned closer.
“What was it about?”
He whispered one name.
Then his eyes closed.
Mom stared at Vincent.
Vincent stared back.
The name was not a criminal.
Not a judge.
Not a union boss.
It belonged to Senator Charles Merrick.
May you like
A man currently preparing a campaign for the White House.
And according to Grandpa Thomas, Daniel Carter died because he had evidence Merrick’s political empire had been financed with stolen pension money.
