Chapter 5 - The Tape
Sadie did not speak to Ronan on the drive back.
She sat against the opposite door.
The cassette tape remained in her purse.
Ronan didn't defend himself.
That frightened her.
Finally, Sadie asked, “Were you involved?”
“No.”
“You were twenty-one.”
“Yes.”
“Old enough.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know my father was investigating your family?”
“I knew he was reviewing accounts. Nothing more.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn't.”
Sadie turned.
Ronan stared through the windshield.
“You should verify everything.”
It was not the answer she expected.
They found an old cassette player at Evelyn's townhouse.
Sadie inserted the tape.
Static.
Then her father's voice.
“If you're hearing this, Susan, something happened.”
Sadie's eyes filled.
She had forgotten his voice.
Warm.
Steady.
Alive.
“I found payments moving through Hayes Shipping into shell companies controlled by Victor Sloane. Someone inside Hayes is helping him.”
Ronan became completely still.
Daniel continued.
“I told Patrick Hayes. I don't know whether he believes me.”
Patrick.
Ronan's father.
“The ledger is not in the bank. This recording is insurance. The real ledger is somewhere only Sadie would understand.”
Sadie frowned.
“Me?”
The recording continued.
“Sunshine, if you're hearing this someday, remember where we watched the stars when the whole world went dark.”
The tape clicked.
Ended.
Sadie knew immediately.
“The cabin.”
Ronan looked at her.
“My father had a cabin in Vermont.”
They left that afternoon.
Four hours later, Sadie stood before a decaying wooden cabin surrounded by trees.
She hadn't visited since childhood.
Memories rushed back.
Her father teaching her to fish.
Her mother laughing beside the fire.
A thunderstorm knocking out electricity.
They had climbed onto the roof.
Watched stars.
Where we watched the stars.
Sadie climbed the attic stairs.
Ronan followed.
She searched the rafters.
Nothing.
Then she noticed an old glow-in-the-dark star stuck to a beam.
She pulled it.
A small compartment opened.
Inside lay a black ledger.
Seventeen years of secrets.
Payments.
Dates.
Names.
Ronan read silently.
Then stopped.
His face changed.
“What?”
He turned the book.
A name appeared repeatedly.
P. HAYES.
Patrick Hayes.
Ronan's father.
Sadie whispered, “Your father was involved.”
Ronan stared.
“Yes.”
Another page.
More transfers.
Then another name.
E. HAYES.
Sadie looked up.
“Evelyn?”
Ronan's expression became unreadable.
His aunt.
The woman sheltering Sadie.
The woman who had brought her the first photograph.
Ronan immediately called Leo.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Evelyn.
Nothing.
Ronan's jaw tightened.
“We're leaving.”
They drove back toward New York.
Halfway there, Ronan received a message.
From Evelyn.
A photograph.
Leo sat tied to a chair.
Behind him stood Victor Sloane.
Sadie's stomach turned.
Text appeared beneath it.
Bring the ledger. Come alone.
Then another message.
And bring Daniel Mercer's daughter.
Sadie looked at Ronan.
“No.”
“You're not going.”
“He wants me.”
“He isn't getting you.”
“He has Leo.”
“I'll handle Leo.”
“How?”
Ronan didn't answer.
Sadie stared at the ledger.
Then something caught her eye.
The initials.
E. Hayes.
She examined the dates.
“Ronan.”
“What?”
“Evelyn wasn't stealing.”
“How do you know?”
“These are deposits.”
Ronan looked.
Sadie traced the numbers.
“Your aunt was putting money back.”
Ronan stared.
Another pattern emerged.
Evelyn had been secretly reversing transactions.
She had been trying to repair the damage.
“She was helping my father,” Sadie whispered.
Ronan looked at the message again.
Then understood.
“Victor doesn't have Evelyn.”
“He has her phone.”
Ronan called Leo again.
This time someone answered.
A woman's voice.
Evelyn.
“Ronan?”
“Are you safe?”
“For now.”
“Where are you?”
“Don't come home.”
Ronan stood.
“What happened?”
Evelyn's voice shook.
“Victor knows about the ledger.”
“We know.”
“No. You don't understand.”
Silence.
“He doesn't want it because of what it proves about the past.”
“Then why?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Because the ledger contains the name of the man who's been betraying you for fifteen years.”
Ronan looked toward Sadie.
“Who?”
A gunshot-like crack sounded through the phone—not clear enough to know what it was.
The connection died.
Ronan immediately called back.
Nothing.
Sadie whispered, “Who was she talking about?”
Ronan looked down at the final pages.
He turned one.
Then another.
His face went pale.
Sadie had never seen Ronan Hayes afraid.
Until now.
He rotated the ledger toward her.
At the bottom of the page was a signature.
LEONARD “LEO” VARETTI.
Sadie stared.
Leo.
Ronan's closest lieutenant.
The man who had supposedly been taken hostage.
The man who had rescued her.
And suddenly Sadie understood.
May you like
Leo had never been captured.
The photograph had been staged.
