Chapter 9 - The Explosion
Jack turned toward his sister.
Marianne did not deny it.
“I planted the device.”
He crossed the room.
Jonathan stepped between them.
Jack shoved him aside.
“You killed Natalie.”
“I didn’t know she was there.”
“Everyone keeps saying that after somebody else pays.”
Marianne’s face crumpled.
The motel explosion had not been intended to kill anyone.
At least according to her.
It was meant to destroy the room after Rachel had been moved.
Erase documents.
Create believable evidence of death.
A controlled fire triggered remotely.
But Eric changed the plan without telling her.
He sent Natalie back for a bag.
Marianne triggered the device.
Natalie died.
So did another Meridian courier who entered unexpectedly.
Two bodies.
The false story became horrifyingly real.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because if you knew Rachel survived, you would search.”
Jack’s eyes filled.
“You let me mourn my child.”
“I let you live.”
“You don’t get to decide that was worth it.”
Marianne nodded.
“I know.”
For once, no defense.
Then Jonathan said:
“This is why David wants the ledger.”
Proof of the bombing tied to Marianne could give him leverage.
If Marianne released Meridian records, David could expose her role in two deaths.
Mutual destruction.
Rachel spoke through the phone.
“There has to be another way.”
There was.
Tell the truth.
All of it.
Marianne could surrender the ledger through counsel.
Disclose her own conduct.
Accept consequences.
Stop using secrets as armor.
She looked at Jack.
“You think I should confess?”
“I think Natalie deserved more than being turned into part of our cover story.”
Marianne started crying.
Then her phone buzzed.
Photograph.
Diane Cole’s grave.
Freshly dug earth.
The ledger container was gone.
Message:
THANKS FOR SAVING ME THE TROUBLE.
David had it.
Jonathan swore.
Jack looked at him.
“What happens if David controls it?”
“He doesn’t need the whole company.”
“Then what?”
“He needs one account.”
Which?
The St. Agnes Fund.
A charitable fund originally created by Diane Cole.
Jack and Marianne’s mother.
Millions had moved through it.
Why?
Jonathan hesitated.
Marianne answered:
“Because Mom was blackmailing Meridian.”
Jack stared.
“What?”
Diane had known Jonathan was Jack’s biological father.
She also knew about his hidden financial transfers.
She threatened to expose him unless he funded shelters for women escaping violent homes.
Jonathan paid.
Some of the money genuinely helped people.
Some was laundered through the same structure.
Good acts funded by dirty money.
Nothing stayed simple.
Then Jonathan said:
“David wants St. Agnes because it holds something besides cash.”
“What?”
“Custody records.”
Marianne went still.
Jack whispered:
“Whose?”
Jonathan looked at Rachel.
“Elizabeth Cole.”
Lily.
May you like
There were custody documents created before Lily was born.
Documents naming someone other than Rachel or Jack as her legal guardian.
