Chapter 9 - The Friend at the Table
Frank Delaney had toasted Ethan thirty minutes before the cake was cut.
He had hugged my son, kissed the top of his head, and told him Elena would have been proud.
Now his voice was in my ear telling me my son should be dead.
"Where are you?" I asked.
Frank chuckled. "Still giving orders. That's always been your problem."
"Come near Ethan again and I'll find you."
"You should be worried about what you already found."
The line went dead.
Quinn traced the call to a disposable phone near Yonkers. Useless.
"Who is Delaney?" she asked.
"My father's business partner. He practically raised Luca and me after my mother died."
"Access?"
"Too much."
We searched his guest room.
Empty closet. Missing luggage. On the desk sat an envelope with my name typed on the front.
Inside was a photograph of Elena's wrecked car.
On the back, one sentence:
SHE FOUND OUT TOO.
I had spent seven years believing ice had killed my wife.
My knees almost failed me.
Quinn caught my arm. "Sit down."
"I'm fine."
"No, you're functioning. Different thing."
Sophia appeared in the doorway holding Lily.
I showed her the photograph.
She closed her eyes.
"There's more," she said.
I was beginning to hate those words.
"After Elena wrote that letter, she called someone from the library. I heard her arguing. She said, 'Ethan will never be your leverage.'"
"Ethan was one year old."
"I know."
"Who was she talking to?"
"I don't know. But afterward, Arthur arrived. They argued too."
Quinn looked at me. "Your wife's death, the trust, your son's birthday, the lawyer, the doctor, Delaney. This isn't one bad night. It's a long operation."
I knew she was right.
Vincent entered with a laptop.
"We found Harris's car abandoned near the south service road."
"Any sign of him?"
"No. But we recovered this from the glove box."
He turned the screen toward me.
A scanned bank statement.
Payments to Harris from a shell company called Harlow Consulting.
I recognized the name immediately.
Harlow was the maiden name of my father's second wife.
Luca's mother.
I looked toward the hallway.
May you like
My brother was gone.
And the gun safe in my study was open.
