Chapter 6 - THE BROTHER WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Michael Carter answered Elena’s call on the second ring.
“Elena?”
His voice sounded warm.
Familiar.
Safe.
That frightened her more than anything.
“I need your help.”
“Of course. Where are you?”
Elena looked across the parking lot toward Detective Hale’s unmarked vehicle.
“I found something Adrian left behind.”
Silence.
Very slight.
Less than a second.
But Elena heard it.
“What did you find?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Where?”
“Our old apartment.”
Another pause.
“You’re there now?”
Elena looked up at the boarded windows of the building.
“Yes.”
“I’m coming.”
She ended the call.
Detective Hale stepped from the car.
“That sounded convincing.”
“I hate this.”
“I know.”
“What if Clara is wrong?”
“Then Michael arrives, helps us search, and we apologize later.”
“And if she’s right?”
Hale looked at the entrance.
“Then we find out how much he knows.”
The apartment had been vacant for months.
The landlord, after being shown a warrant, unlocked the door.
Elena stepped inside and felt twenty-three again.
The room looked smaller.
The kitchen still had the same crooked cabinet.
The bedroom window still faced an alley where Adrian used to complain about garbage trucks waking him before dawn.
Elena walked to the loose floorboard.
Her fingers trembled as she knelt.
Hale and Grant stood behind her.
She lifted the board.
Nothing.
Her chest sank.
Then she reached deeper.
Her fingertips touched metal.
Elena pulled out a small waterproof case.
Detective Grant exhaled.
Inside was a flash drive.
A folded letter.
And a cheap prepaid phone.
The letter was addressed to Elena.
Her eyes blurred instantly.
She unfolded it.
El,
If you are reading this, then I failed to get ahead of them.
Please don’t blame yourself.
Whatever happened was not your fault.
Elena stopped.
Her vision disappeared behind tears.
She covered her mouth.
For seven weeks, she had needed those words.
Not from a lawyer.
Not from a judge.
From him.
Hale looked away, giving her privacy.
Elena forced herself to continue.
Charles knows I found the accounts, but I don’t think he knows how much I copied.
Michael has been acting strange.
He asked questions nobody except Charles should know to ask.
I want to believe my brother is scared.
I’m afraid he’s involved.
Trust the evidence, not the people we love.
Protect Mia.
You were the best thing that ever happened to me.
A.
Elena lowered the letter.
Detective Grant whispered, “I’m sorry.”
A knock sounded downstairs.
Michael.
Hale motioned toward the hallway.
Two plainclothes officers moved out of sight.
Elena tucked Adrian’s letter inside her coat.
The flash drive had already been duplicated into an evidence bag.
Michael appeared in the doorway moments later.
Dark hair damp from rain.
Concern on his face.
“Elena.”
He rushed toward her.
She let him hug her.
It took everything she had not to recoil.
“What happened?”
“I found the floorboard.”
Michael looked toward it.
His expression barely changed.
“What was there?”
“A phone.”
Elena watched him.
“And?”
“Nothing else.”
Michael’s eyes moved toward Hale.
“Why are detectives here?”
“Because somebody threatened Mia.”
His face sharpened.
“What?”
Elena told him about the envelope.
Michael swore.
“Charles.”
“You think so?”
“Who else?”
Elena’s heart pounded.
“Adrian was afraid of someone close to him.”
Michael looked at her.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
She hated lying to him.
But then she remembered Adrian’s letter.
Trust the evidence.
Michael walked toward the window.
“Adrian was paranoid near the end.”
“Was he?”
“He thought everyone was watching him.”
“Were they?”
Michael looked back.
“I don’t know.”
Detective Hale spoke.
“When did you last see your brother?”
Michael’s shoulders stiffened.
“The morning of the crash.”
Elena stared.
That wasn’t true.
Michael had told her he hadn’t seen Adrian for four days.
Hale asked, “Where?”
“At Bellweather.”
“You previously told investigators you were at a client meeting all day.”
Michael’s face changed.
“I forgot.”
“You forgot seeing your brother on the day he died?”
“I was grieving.”
Elena felt sick.
Michael looked at her.
“Elena, what is this?”
She didn’t answer.
He took one step closer.
“What did Clara tell you?”
There.
Not what did you find.
What did Clara tell you.
Elena’s voice went quiet.
“Why would you ask that?”
Michael froze.
Detective Hale moved subtly closer.
Michael laughed once.
“This is insane.”
“Answer me.”
“Elena.”
“Were you working with Charles Voss?”
Michael stared at her.
“No.”
“Did you tell him Adrian was going to the police?”
“No.”
“Did you know we were driving on Route Seventeen that night?”
Michael’s face drained.
Elena knew.
She knew before he spoke.
“You did.”
Michael stepped backward.
“I didn’t know they would hurt him.”
The room went silent.
Elena felt the floor disappear beneath her.
“What?”
Michael’s breathing quickened.
“I thought they wanted to scare him.”
Detective Hale reached toward his belt.
Michael noticed.
“No.”
He backed toward the door.
“Michael,” Hale said. “Don’t.”
Michael ran.
He made it down one flight.
A second officer blocked the stairwell.
Michael swung.
The officer ducked.
Hale tackled Michael against the wall.
Elena stood at the top of the stairs, numb.
Michael screamed as handcuffs closed around his wrists.
“I didn’t kill him!”
Elena walked down slowly.
Michael looked up.
His face was wet with tears.
“Elena, listen to me.”
She stopped three steps above him.
“You told Charles where we were.”
“I owed money.”
Her face twisted.
“What?”
“Gambling. A lot.”
“How much?”
“Almost four hundred thousand.”
Elena stared.
“Charles paid it.”
“In exchange for Adrian?”
“No!”
Michael struggled against Hale’s grip.
“He wanted information. Meetings. Where Adrian kept files. Who he was talking to.”
“And the night of the crash?”
Michael closed his eyes.
“He called me.”
“Charles?”
“Yes.”
“What did he ask?”
“Where Adrian was.”
“And you told him.”
Michael began sobbing.
“I thought they would pull him over. Threaten him. I swear.”
Elena remembered Adrian’s body being lowered into the ground.
“You sold your brother’s location.”
“I didn’t know.”
“For four hundred thousand dollars.”
“I was desperate.”
“So was Adrian when that SUV hit us.”
Michael collapsed against the wall.
“Elena…”
“You sat beside my hospital bed.”
He cried harder.
“You held my hand.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You carried his coffin.”
“I’m sorry.”
Elena looked down at him.
For years, Michael had been family.
Now he looked like a stranger.
Detective Hale pulled him to his feet.
As officers led him away, Michael suddenly twisted around.
“The drive!”
Everyone stopped.
“What?” Hale asked.
Michael’s eyes locked on Elena.
“Charles knows Adrian made a copy.”
Elena’s stomach tightened.
“He doesn’t know where it is.”
“He knows now.”
“How?”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“Because I wasn’t the only person tracking you.”
Hale grabbed him.
“Who?”
Michael looked at Elena.
“Rachel.”
Elena went cold.
“My lawyer?”
Michael nodded.
“Rachel Donovan’s husband sits on Bellweather’s board.”
Elena stared at him.
“No.”
“Ask her.”
Hale immediately reached for his phone.
Elena did too.
She called Rachel.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then her phone buzzed.
A message from Mia’s court-appointed security officer.
CALL ME NOW.
Elena’s hands began shaking.
She called.
The officer answered instantly.
“Ms. Carter, stay calm.”
Her blood froze.
“What happened?”
“Your attorney arrived at the safe residence about ten minutes ago.”
Elena stopped breathing.
“She said you sent her.”
“I didn’t.”
“We know that now.”
Elena gripped the railing.
“Where is Mia?”
A pause.
Too long.
“Rachel left with her.”
The world disappeared.
May you like
Elena heard herself scream.
“No.”
