Evan did not reply to Daniel.<\/p>\n
He placed the phone on the desk.<\/p>\n
Darla watched him carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're not going alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was considering it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is almost the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're right.\u201d<\/p>\n
He folded his father's note and placed it inside his jacket.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what do we do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe find the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan looked around the office.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father believed information was safer when nobody knew where it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darla frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think it's here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think someone wanted us to believe it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
He walked toward the wall behind the desk.<\/p>\n
There were twelve framed photographs.<\/p>\n
His father's early construction projects.<\/p>\n
A groundbreaking ceremony.<\/p>\n
A factory opening.<\/p>\n
A hotel.<\/p>\n
A portrait of the first executive team.<\/p>\n
Evan removed the third photograph.<\/p>\n
Behind it was nothing.<\/p>\n
The fourth.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
The fifth.<\/p>\n
A small metal plate.<\/p>\n
Darla stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan examined it.<\/p>\n
A sequence of numbers had been engraved into the plate.<\/p>\n
He recognized them immediately.<\/p>\n
His father's birthday.<\/p>\n
Then his mother's.<\/p>\n
Then Evan's.<\/p>\n
Three dates.<\/p>\n
Beneath them was one final number.<\/p>\n
4:17.<\/p>\n
The time on the brass clock.<\/p>\n
Evan looked at the clock.<\/p>\n
He removed it from the wall.<\/p>\n
Behind it was a narrow recess.<\/p>\n
Inside sat a small leather-bound book.<\/p>\n
Darla whispered, \u201cThe ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan pulled it out.<\/p>\n
The cover was worn.<\/p>\n
No title.<\/p>\n
No initials.<\/p>\n
He opened it.<\/p>\n
The pages contained names, dates, account numbers, payments, meetings, and handwritten notes.<\/p>\n
At first, Evan recognized none of the names.<\/p>\n
Then he saw one.<\/p>\n
Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Darla stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan turned the book toward her.<\/p>\n
Her family name appeared several times.<\/p>\n
She stared at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he involved?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan continued reading.<\/p>\n
The entries went back twenty-eight years.<\/p>\n
Money had moved between companies that no longer existed.<\/p>\n
Payments had been made through shell corporations.<\/p>\n
Several transactions were connected to foreign accounts.<\/p>\n
And one recurring notation appeared beside dozens of entries.<\/p>\n
Protection.<\/p>\n
Darla's face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan turned another page.<\/p>\n
Then stopped.<\/p>\n
His father's signature appeared at the bottom.<\/p>\n
Beneath it was the name of a man Evan had heard only once in his life.<\/p>\n
Victor Hale.<\/p>\n
Darla recognized it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father mentioned him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
Darla hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was an adviser to several wealthy families.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn't explain why his name is here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn't only an adviser.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was he?\u201d<\/p>\n
Darla's voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cA fixer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan closed the ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cA fixer for what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThings powerful people didn't want investigated.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room seemed colder.<\/p>\n
Evan opened the ledger again.<\/p>\n
The last entries were dated twelve years earlier.<\/p>\n
The same year his father died.<\/p>\n
One page contained a note written in darker ink.<\/p>\n
If anything happens to me, the ledger must remain hidden.<\/p>\n
Evan stared at the words.<\/p>\n
Then he saw the final line.<\/p>\n
The people who benefited from the old arrangement will eventually come for it.<\/p>\n
Darla whispered, \u201cYour father knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he hid it from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan's expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he wanted me out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A noise came from the corridor.<\/p>\n
Both turned.<\/p>\n
Footsteps.<\/p>\n
Slow.<\/p>\n
Measured.<\/p>\n
Evan closed the ledger.<\/p>\n
The footsteps stopped outside the office.<\/p>\n
Darla whispered, \u201cSomeone followed us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan moved toward the door.<\/p>\n
He motioned for her to stay behind him.<\/p>\n
The handle turned.<\/p>\n
The door opened.<\/p>\n
Marcus stepped inside.<\/p>\n
Evan's shoulders relaxed slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tracked your vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour driver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to Daniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill missing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus noticed the ledger.<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan looked at him sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did you know about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI've known about the existence of a ledger for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darla stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell Evan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause his father asked me not to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father trusted you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I once worked for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan's eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's all?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus said nothing.<\/p>\n
Evan understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI protected your father from people who wanted him dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darla looked at Evan.<\/p>\n
\u201cDead?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn't only afraid of financial consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan's voice became quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho wanted him dead?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus looked toward the closed door.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who lost money when he tried to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus took a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of them was Victor Hale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan looked down at the ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus didn't answer immediately.<\/p>\n
Then his phone rang.<\/p>\n
He checked the screen.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
He answered.<\/p>\n
A voice spoke.<\/p>\n
Marcus's face went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He listened.<\/p>\n
Then slowly lowered the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus looked at Evan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have Darla's grandson.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darla staggered backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey sent me a location.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus showed Evan the screen.<\/p>\n
A warehouse.<\/p>\n
The same warehouse district they had just left.<\/p>\n
Evan's expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey followed us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr they were already waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan closed the ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darla grabbed his arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandson.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe're going.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said we shouldn't follow their instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't say we wouldn't rescue him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus looked at Evan.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou understand what this means?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we go there, they get what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan looked at the ledger.<\/p>\n
Then at Darla.<\/p>\n
Then at Marcus.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He placed the ledger inside his briefcase.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey think they get what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darla stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you planning?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan closed the briefcase.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm going to give them a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan did not reply to Daniel. He placed the phone on the desk. Darla watched him carefully. \u201cYou're not going alone.\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cYou were thinking about it.\u201d \u201cI was considering … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6184"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6196,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6184\/revisions\/6196"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}