CHAPTER 7: THE DETECTIVE'S HUSBAND WAS THE REAL MASTERMIND
The room fell silent.
Detective Harper couldn't stop staring at the screen.
Her lips trembled.
"No..."
Nathan grabbed her arm.
"Who is he?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"My husband... Richard Harper."
Everyone was stunned.
"But Richard died ten years ago," Michael whispered.
Harper slowly shook her head.
"That's what he wanted us to believe."
The masked man smiled into the camera.
"Hello, Eleanor."
"I've missed you."
Harper's knees nearly gave out.
"You murdered dozens of innocent people..."
Richard laughed.
"No."
"I simply erased the people who knew too much."
The giant steel door of the vault suddenly unlocked with a loud click.
"You have exactly five minutes," Richard said.
"Leave the vault..."
"...or be buried with its secrets."
Nathan immediately picked up the leather case containing the Reed family will.
Michael gathered the evidence files.
Harper grabbed Lily's hand.
The four of them raced up the staircase.
Just as they reached the surface...
BOOM!
The underground vault exploded.
The entire Reed mansion shook violently before collapsing into a cloud of dust.
Everyone fell to the ground.
Nathan turned around in horror.
"The evidence..."
Michael slowly opened the leather case.
Inside were only blank sheets of paper.
"What?"
Every document...
Every gold bar...
Every file...
Had vanished.
Harper looked toward the smoking ruins.
"He planned this."
"He wanted us to believe everything was destroyed."
Then Lily quietly reached into her stuffed rabbit.
Everyone looked at her.
She pulled out a tiny silver memory card.
"My mommy told me..."
"...never leave home without this."
Nathan inserted the card into his phone.
A hidden folder appeared.
REED OMEGA FILES.
More than twenty thousand encrypted documents.
Bank accounts.
Secret recordings.
Photos of politicians shaking hands with criminals.
Lists of judges accepting bribes.
And at the top...
One name.
PROJECT PHOENIX.
Michael frowned.
"What is Project Phoenix?"
Harper's face turned pale.
"I've heard that name only once."
"It isn't a criminal organization."
"It's a shadow network."
"They don't control cities..."
"They control governments."
Before anyone could speak again...
Nathan's phone rang.
The caller ID simply read:
UNKNOWN.
He answered.
A little boy's voice whispered through the speaker.
"Daddy..."
Everyone froze.
Nathan's heart nearly stopped.
"I've been waiting for you."
Nathan's voice cracked.
"Who are you?"
The boy answered softly.
"I'm your son."
"And they're coming to kill me."
The line went dead.
Lily slowly looked up at Nathan.
"Daddy..."
"I thought I was your only child."
Nathan stood frozen.
Because seven years ago...
May you like
His newborn son had been declared dead at birth.
TO BE CONTINUED...
