Chapter 11 - MASON’S SON DIDN’T KNOW WHY THEY WERE RUNNINGEli called Wade at 3:40 a.m.
Whispering.
“Uncle Wade?”
Wade sat upright in bed.
He had not heard Eli call him that in years.
“Eli.”
“Don’t tell Dad I called.”
Wade was already moving.
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“Motel.”
“City?”
“I think Erie.”
Pennsylvania.
“Are you safe?”
Pause.
“I think.”
“Is Mason there?”
“Sleeping.”
Wade signaled Lena from another phone.
She answered immediately.
“Keep talking,” she mouthed after Wade sent location details.
Eli whispered:
“Dad says people are framing him.”
“What people?”
“You.”
Wade closed his eyes.
“What did he tell you?”
“That you found fake records Raymond made.”
“Anything else?”
“That the police want to blame him because of the charity.”
“Eli.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you remember Raymond?”
“Sure.”
“Do you believe he stole from the fund?”
Long pause.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he was boring.”
Wade almost laughed.
Raymond would have appreciated that.
“Your dad told you he did?”
“Yes.”
“What about why you left school?”
Eli went quiet.
Wade waited.
“I got into trouble.”
“What kind?”
“Money.”
His stomach tightened.
“Dad gave me tuition money.”
“And?”
“I used part to trade crypto.”
Wade said nothing.
“I lost it.”
“How much?”
“Thirty thousand.”
“Does Mason know?”
“Yes.”
“He was mad?”
“He said he’d fix it.”
Wade felt another layer appear.
Mason had spent years fixing problems secretly.
His own.
Eli’s.
Everyone’s.
That mentality had become poison.
“Why did he tell you to leave Ohio?”
“He said the police would freeze our accounts.”
“Did he say why?”
“No.”
“Eli, listen carefully. Your father is wanted.”
Silence.
“For what?”
“Financial crimes.”
“Bullshit.”
“And conspiracy connected to robberies.”
“No.”
“Eli—”
“He runs a charity.”
“I know.”
“He helped Aunt Sarah after Liam died.”
“I know.”
“You’re lying.”
Wade let the anger come.
Eli needed somewhere to put it.
“Ask your father one question.”
“What?”
“Ask why Darnell Pike was paid fifteen thousand dollars to take my phone.”
Silence.
Eli’s breathing changed.
“Darnell?”
“You know him?”
“He worked at the garage.”
“Yes.”
“Dad said he was a thief.”
Wade closed his eyes.
Projection.
Always.
“Ask him.”
Eli whispered:
“I have to go.”
“Eli, don’t confront him if you’re afraid.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“Being his son doesn’t make him harmless when he’s desperate.”
That sentence hurt to say.
Eli ended the call.
Authorities coordinated quietly with Pennsylvania law enforcement.
No dramatic pursuit.
No television-style chase.
They needed Eli safe.
Forty minutes later, Eli called again.
This time crying.
“He lied.”
Wade’s chest tightened.
“What happened?”
“I asked about Darnell.”
“And?”
“He told me to give him my phone.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Where are you?”
“Bathroom.”
“Locked?”
“Yes.”
“Stay there.”
Eli whispered:
“He said you were going to destroy everything.”
Wade felt anger.
“Mason is scared.”
“He said Raymond tried to blackmail him.”
“That’s not what the evidence shows.”
“I found cash.”
Wade froze.
“What?”
“In Dad’s bag.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know. A lot.”
“Anything else?”
“Passport.”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
Wade closed his eyes.
Mason had planned to take Eli farther.
Possibly across a border.
Not because Eli was a criminal.
Because Mason did not want to be alone when his life collapsed.
“Eli, officers are coming.”
“No.”
“Listen.”
“He’ll know I called.”
“We’ll handle that.”
“I don’t want him hurt.”
“Neither do I.”
“I hate him.”
“That can change every five minutes right now.”
Eli cried.
“I still don’t want him hurt.”
“I know.”
Minutes later, police arrived.
Mason did not fight.
That surprised Wade.
He simply walked into the motel parking lot with his hands visible.
Eli emerged later.
Shaking.
When Wade reached Pennsylvania hours afterward, Eli stood beside an officer wrapped in a motel blanket.
Wade hugged him.
Eli held on.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“My dad.”
“You are not your father.”
Eli cried harder.
Inside the motel, investigators found cash.
Documents.
Two passports.
And one flash drive Mason had removed from his office.
It contained a list of people.
Wade recognized robbery victims.
Charity donors.
Volunteers.
But one column was new.
PRESSURE
Beside each name was a weakness.
Debt.
Divorce.
Immigration concern.
Affair.
Business problem.
Mason had not only selected targets based on money.
He had collected information that made them less likely to report or testify.
Beside Raymond:
ERIN
Beside Kara:
MOTHER
Beside Darnell:
MARCUS / PAROLE
Beside Travis:
BUSINESS DEBT
And beside Wade:
LIAM
Wade stared.
His dead brother.
Mason considered Liam a vulnerability.
A way to control Wade emotionally.
For years, whenever Wade questioned the charity, Mason reminded him:
We built this for Liam.
Not accidentally.
Strategically.
That realization hurt more than the ambush.
May you like
The man Wade trusted had learned where Wade was soft—
then used it.
Related Stories
