CHAPTER 8 — THE TRAITOR INSIDE
Harrison Cole didn't call the police.
Not immediately.
He stood in Thomas Gallagher's apartment, studying every inch of the room.
The overturned chair.
The shattered coffee mug.
The faint streak of blood leading toward the back door.
Too neat.
Too deliberate.
Daniel Ross crouched beside the broken mug.
"What are you thinking?"
Harrison picked up a single piece of porcelain.
"There was a struggle."
"But not much of one."
"You think Thomas went willingly?"
"No."
Harrison looked toward the open doorway.
"I think he wanted whoever took him to believe he had no choice."
Daniel frowned.
"Why?"
Harrison held up the note.
"Because Thomas knew we'd find this."
"He was leaving us a message."
An hour later, forensic technicians finished processing the apartment.
Detective Laura Simmons approached Harrison.
"No fingerprints except Thomas's."
"No shoe prints."
"No security footage."
"Every camera in the building stopped recording between 9:12 and 9:31."
Harrison nodded.
"Professionals."
Laura looked at him carefully.
"You expected this?"
"I expected them to silence witnesses."
"I didn't expect them to move this quickly."
She lowered her voice.
"Do you trust everyone on your legal team?"
The question echoed the warning in Thomas's note.
Someone close to you has been feeding them information.
Harrison answered honestly.
"I thought I did."
Across town, Richard sat in the empty nursery of his home.
The silence was unbearable.
He ran his fingers across the side of the crib.
A stuffed elephant rested in the corner.
Khloe had bought it during their second trimester.
She had laughed when she saw its oversized ears.
"Our daughter will love this," she had said.
Richard closed his eyes.
He remembered pretending to smile while secretly texting Vanessa beneath the dinner table.
The memory made him sick.
A knock interrupted him.
His attorney entered carrying a thick envelope.
"We have another problem."
Richard almost laughed.
"Only one?"
The attorney placed the envelope on the crib.
"The District Attorney has frozen three additional companies."
Richard stared at the documents.
"They can't prove those belong to me."
"They already have."
He looked up sharply.
"How?"
The attorney hesitated.
"Someone inside your organization is cooperating."
Richard's heartbeat quickened.
"Who?"
"We don't know."
"But whoever it is..."
"...they've given prosecutors internal documents that only five people could access."
Richard's mind immediately raced through the names.
His chief accountant.
His executive assistant.
His CFO.
His legal adviser.
Or...
Vanessa.
Meanwhile, Vanessa sat inside her apartment surrounded by half-packed suitcases.
She had made her decision.
She was leaving.
A fake passport.
Cash.
Jewelry.
A one-way ticket to Argentina under another name.
She zipped the final suitcase.
The doorbell rang.
She froze.
No one was supposed to know she was home.
The bell rang again.
Slowly.
Patiently.
She looked through the peephole.
No one.
Only an envelope lying on the floor.
After several moments, she opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
Inside the envelope was a single photograph.
It showed Vanessa entering the parking garage to meet Ethan Mercer.
Across the bottom, someone had written in black ink:
RUN IF YOU WANT. WE'LL FIND YOU FIRST.
Her hands began to shake.
There was no signature.
There didn't need to be.
Someone was watching her.
But it wasn't Harrison.
Harrison played by the rules.
Whoever sent this did not.
Back at Cole & Whitmore LLP, Harrison gathered his legal team.
Every attorney surrendered their phones before entering the conference room.
Sarah Mitchell looked surprised.
"Security measures?"
"Necessary ones."
The devices were placed inside signal-blocking containers.
Harrison waited until the room was completely silent.
"Someone has been leaking information."
No one spoke.
"Our witness disappeared."
"Our investigation has been compromised."
He looked around the table.
"I'm not accusing anyone."
"But until I know the truth..."
"...every piece of evidence will be compartmentalized."
Each attorney would receive only part of the investigation.
No one except Harrison would know the complete picture.
If information leaked again...
He would know exactly where it came from.
Later that evening, Daniel returned from the Haven Mill.
"I found another entrance."
He spread aerial photographs across Harrison's desk.
"The underground facility connects to an abandoned railroad tunnel."
"Can we get inside?"
"Maybe."
Daniel pointed to an old maintenance hatch hidden beneath thick brush.
"It hasn't been used in years."
Harrison studied the map.
"When?"
"Tomorrow night."
Before Harrison could answer, Sarah Mitchell rushed into the office.
"I found Ethan Mercer."
Both men looked up.
"Alive?"
She nodded.
"A small private hospital outside Pittsburgh."
"He checked in under another name three months ago."
"What condition?"
Sarah hesitated.
"Late-stage pancreatic cancer."
Silence filled the room.
"How long?"
"The doctors estimate..."
"...a few weeks."
Harrison immediately stood.
"We're leaving now."
Three hours later, Harrison entered the quiet hospice wing.
The smell of antiseptic filled the hallway.
A nurse led him into Room 214.
Ethan Mercer looked nothing like the confident CFO in the old photographs.
He was thin.
Pale.
His breathing was shallow.
When he saw Harrison, he smiled weakly.
"I wondered when you'd find me."
"You knew I was looking."
"I've been waiting."
Harrison pulled a chair beside the bed.
"I need answers."
Ethan coughed painfully.
"You deserve them."
"So does Richard."
Harrison frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Ethan looked toward the dark window.
"The man everyone thinks they know..."
"...isn't the man who started Project Haven."
"Who did?"
Ethan closed his eyes.
"Edward."
"I know."
"No."
Ethan slowly shook his head.
"You don't."
After a long silence, he whispered,
"Richard never controlled the company."
"He was only the face."
Harrison leaned forward.
"Then who was giving the orders?"
Ethan opened his eyes one last time.
Fear filled them.
"There was another partner."
"Someone even Edward answered to."
"Who?"
Ethan's lips barely moved.
"The Founder..."
Before he could say another word, every monitor in the room erupted into alarms.
Doctors rushed inside.
"Nurse! Crash cart!"
Harrison stepped back as medical staff fought desperately to save Ethan Mercer.
May you like
The last witness who knew the truth was dying.
And he still hadn't revealed the identity of The Founder.
