Chapter 8 - The Safe House
Samuel Ross agreed to meet on one condition.
No police.
No company security.
No one Eleanor had ever employed.
Victoria hated the condition.
"This is exactly how people end up in documentaries," she told Julian.
He almost smiled.
"I'll take Naomi."
"Naomi is not a bodyguard."
"Neither are you, and you're staying here."
"I'm pregnant, not furniture."
He knelt in front of her.
"I know. That's why I'm asking you to let me be scared for once."
That disarmed her.
She touched his face.
"Come back."
"I will."
Ross chose a motel outside Rockford.
He looked twenty years older than Julian remembered, with a gray beard and the posture of a man who checked exits before chairs.
He placed a sealed envelope on the bed.
"Your father knew someone was moving money through North Crown."
"Did he know it was my mother?"
"He suspected."
"And Graham?"
"He knew Graham was involved."
Ross slid over copies of emails.
Charles had confronted Eleanor.
Her replies were cold, defensive, and increasingly threatening.
One message read:
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I SAVED THIS FAMILY FROM.
Another:
IF YOU HAND THIS COMPANY TO JULIAN, YOU WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING.
Julian's hands shook.
"Why didn't you take this to police?"
Ross looked ashamed.
"Because two days after Charles died, someone broke into my home. They left a photograph of my daughter sleeping."
Naomi said, "Who knew you had the revised will?"
"Charles. Me. And the private witness who signed it."
"Who was the witness?"
Ross's expression changed.
"Graham Pierce."
Julian swore.
"So the will was destroyed."
"The original was."
Ross opened the sealed envelope.
Inside was a certified copy.
"I kept this off-site."
Julian read the terms.
Charles had left controlling voting rights in Vance Industries to Julian, not Eleanor.
But after his death, an older will had been probated.
Eleanor became executor and retained broad control.
"This could unwind years of transactions," Naomi said.
Ross nodded.
"That's why she wanted it gone."
A car door slammed outside.
Ross went pale.
"Did anyone follow you?"
"No."
Headlights swept across the motel curtains.
Naomi moved toward the window.
"Two SUVs."
Julian's phone rang.
Victoria.
He answered immediately.
"Are you okay?"
May you like
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Julian, someone just cut the power at the house."
