Chapter 7 - THE LETTER HE NEVER SENT
Tessa walked away from Damon.
He didn't stop her.
For the first time since she'd met him, Damon Vale looked powerless.
She hated that it affected her.
“You should have told me,” she said.
“I know.”
“You knew my father saved your life.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he was investigating Meridian.”
“Yes.”
“You knew there was evidence.”
“Yes.”
“And you still said nothing.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Tessa turned.
“Stop saying that.”
He froze.
“People always say they're protecting you when they're actually protecting themselves.”
Damon lowered his head.
“I was ashamed.”
The honesty disarmed her.
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
He looked toward the skyline.
“My father built a company on secrets.”
He paused.
“I spent my life convincing myself I could make it clean.”
“And?”
“I couldn't.”
Tessa's anger softened slightly.
“But you tried.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because of your father.”
She stared.
Damon continued.
“He saved me after the Meridian collapse.”
“How?”
“I was trapped.”
He looked at her.
“Your father came back.”
Tessa's eyes filled.
“He could have left.”
“He didn't.”
“Did he know he was going to die?”
Damon shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Silence.
Then Tessa asked,
“Where is the letter?”
Damon pulled a folded envelope from his jacket.
“I've carried it for six years.”
She took it.
Her hands trembled.
She opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Not an apology.
Not an explanation.
A confession.
Damon had written about her father.
About Meridian.
About Adrian.
About his own failure.
At the bottom, he had written:
I don't expect forgiveness. I only hope one day you'll understand that silence was the worst mistake I ever made.
Tessa looked up.
“Why now?”
“Because I don't want to make another mistake.”
Before she could answer, gunfire erupted below.
Damon grabbed her and pulled her behind a concrete barrier.
Security shouted.
Adrian appeared on the rooftop.
“Richard's men.”
“How many?”
“Six.”
Damon looked at Tessa.
“Stay here.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Tessa.”
“I know this building better than anyone.”
Adrian smiled.
“She does.”
Tessa looked toward the roof access.
“There's another way down.”
They moved through a maintenance passage.
Tessa led them through an unfinished section of the hotel.
A hidden staircase.
A locked door.
A narrow tunnel.
Damon stared.
“Where does this go?”
“Old ballroom.”
They emerged behind a wall panel.
Richard's men stood across the room.
Adrian whispered,
“Interesting.”
Tessa looked at him.
“What?”
“They're not looking for us.”
She followed his gaze.
They were searching the vault entrance.
Damon understood.
“Richard needs the final box.”
“Why?”
“Because my father kept the master evidence there.”
Tessa suddenly remembered the note.
Her father's handwriting.
Trust the man who tells you the truth even when it destroys him.
She looked at Damon.
“What if the final box isn't evidence against Richard?”
Damon frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“What if it's evidence against your father?”
Silence.
Adrian's expression changed.
“Then Richard wants it destroyed.”
Tessa nodded.
“And if we get there first, we can expose everyone.”
Damon looked at her.
“You're sure?”
“No.”
She smiled faintly.
“But I'm done being afraid of answers.”
They returned to the vault.
The missing shelf stood empty.
Tessa ran her hand over the wood.
“There's a compartment.”
She pressed a hidden latch.
A panel opened.
Inside was a small metal box.
Damon stared.
“My father.”
Adrian whispered,
“No.”
“What?”
“He wouldn't leave this.”
Tessa opened it.
Inside was a key.
And a photograph.
The photograph showed Damon’s father.
Tessa's father.
Clara.
And Richard's father.
All standing together.
On the back was a date.
The night before Meridian.
Below the photograph was a sentence:
One of them betrayed us.
Adrian stared.
“That's not enough.”
Tessa picked up the key.
“Maybe this is.”
A label was attached.
ACCOUNT 47.
Damon's face changed.
“I know that number.”
“Where?”
“It's the account my father used to hide emergency funds.”
“How much?”
Damon looked at her.
“Four hundred million dollars.”
Clara appeared in the doorway.
“And now we know where it went.”
She pointed at the photograph.
“Richard's family didn't steal it.”
Damon's eyes narrowed.
“Then who did?”
Clara looked at Tessa.
“Your father.”
Tessa stared.
“My father?”
Clara nodded.
“He stole four hundred million dollars.”
Tessa shook her head.
“No.”
Clara's voice softened.
“He didn't steal it.”
“He transferred it.”
“Where?”
Clara looked at Damon.
“To a foundation.”
“What foundation?”
Clara smiled sadly.
“The Monroe Foundation.”
Tessa went completely still.
“That foundation never existed.”
May you like
Clara whispered,
“Exactly.”
