Chapter 7 - Warehouse Seventeen
The warehouse smelled like salt, oil, and old paper.
We entered through a side door.
Nolan's team moved silently ahead.
My father stayed behind me despite my objections.
Then we heard voices.
Victor.
And Reid.
I stopped.
Reid was tied to a chair.
Victor stood in front of him.
“You failed,” Victor said.
Reid looked exhausted.
“You never told me she knew.”
Victor laughed.
“She wasn't supposed to.”
I stepped into the light.
“Neither was I.”
Both men turned.
Victor's face changed.
Reid looked relieved.
“Audrey.”
Victor smiled.
“So.”
He slowly clapped.
“The Bellamy daughter finally comes home.”
I stared at him.
“You killed my mother.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“That is a very serious accusation.”
“You were at the crash.”
“So were you.”
My heart stopped.
“You remember.”
Victor looked at Reid.
“She remembers.”
Reid whispered:
“What?”
Victor ignored him.
He looked at me.
“Your mother discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That Warren had planned to remove me from the company.”
My father stepped forward.
“You killed her because she found out.”
Victor laughed.
“Your wife was going to expose the entire board.”
“She was innocent.”
“No.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“She was dangerous.”
I felt sick.
“What did she discover?”
Victor reached into his coat.
He removed a small cassette recorder.
He pressed play.
My mother's voice filled the warehouse.
“If anything happens to me, Warren, you need to protect Audrey.”
I closed my eyes.
Her voice.
I hadn't heard it in twenty years.
Then another voice.
My father's.
“I will.”
My mother's voice trembled.
“Victor knows.”
The recording stopped.
Victor smiled.
“She knew.”
My father stepped toward him.
“You killed her.”
Victor raised a gun.
Nolan's men aimed theirs.
Victor laughed.
“Everyone put the weapons down.”
No one moved.
Then Reid shouted:
“Do it!”
I looked at him.
He nodded toward Victor.
“Do what he says.”
I realized why.
Victor had a second gun pressed against a hidden panel.
Explosives.
Warehouse.
Gasoline.
He had rigged the entire building.
My father lowered his weapon.
Nolan followed.
Victor smiled.
“Smart.”
He looked at me.
“Now come here.”
I stepped forward.
“Audrey!”
My father shouted.
I kept walking.
Victor held the gun against my chest.
“You were always your father's weakness.”
“No.”
I looked directly into his eyes.
“You were.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“You spent twenty years believing Warren Bellamy's daughter was a frightened little girl.”
I smiled.
“You never noticed I grew up.”
Victor's face changed.
I pressed the button hidden inside my sleeve.
Outside, sirens erupted.
Victor spun.
The warehouse doors opened.
Federal agents stormed inside.
Victor fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside my head.
Nolan tackled him.
Reid fell sideways with the chair.
My father rushed toward me.
Victor was dragged away screaming.
“You don't understand!”
I stared at him.
“What don't I understand?”
He smiled.
“You still don't know who ordered the murder.”
I froze.
“What?”
Victor laughed.
“It wasn't me.”
Then the agents took him away.
I turned toward Reid.
He was staring at me.
“You heard him.”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe him?”
I looked at my father.
May you like
He said nothing.
And for the first time, I wondered whether the man I had spent four years blaming for hiding the truth had been hiding something far worse.
