Chapter 9 - Red MountainSnow began falling harder by the time Luke reached Red Mountain Lodge.
He had borrowed Helen’s rental SUV.
Ignored sixteen calls.
Three from his mother.
Six from Diane.
Four from Graham.
Three unknown.
He parked beneath a dark timber overhang.
The lodge looked abandoned.
One wing covered in scaffolding.
Windows black.
Luke entered through a side door Diane had shown him on a blueprint.
His phone flashlight cut through dust.
“Mr. Vale?”
Nothing.
He moved deeper.
A table sat in the old dining room.
One envelope.
His name.
LUKE MERCER.
He stopped.
Every instinct said leave.
He opened it.
Inside:
A photograph of Victor Mercer.
Twenty-three years younger.
Standing beside Graham.
Both smiling.
On the back:
THEY WERE BOTH LIED TO.
Luke’s throat tightened.
Then a floorboard creaked behind him.
He turned.
A man stood in the doorway.
Late forties.
Large.
Black jacket.
Luke recognized him from Holloway headquarters.
Evan Pike.
Charles Rusk’s driver.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Luke backed away.
“Where’s Vale?”
“Not here.”
“What do you want?”
Pike looked at the envelope.
“You.”
Luke’s pulse accelerated.
“Why?”
“To call Diane.”
“No.”
Pike smiled.
“Then I call her.”
He pulled out a phone.
Luke moved toward the opposite door.
Pike stepped into his path.
“You don’t want to make this physical.”
Luke looked around.
“Did Charles send you?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Pike didn’t answer.
Luke understood.
Maybe Charles wasn’t controlling Pike anymore.
“Who burned Vale’s cabin?”
Pike smiled slightly.
“Bad wiring.”
Luke stared.
Then his phone rang.
Diane.
Pike nodded.
“Answer.”
Luke did.
“Diane.”
“Luke, get out.”
“Where are you?”
“On the road.”
Graham’s voice came through faintly behind her.
They were together.
Interesting.
Luke said:
“Pike is here.”
Silence.
Then Charles in background:
“Do not let him take you anywhere.”
Luke looked at Pike.
“He says not to let you take me anywhere.”
Pike’s smile disappeared.
“Charles is there?”
“Yes.”
Pike muttered something.
Diane asked:
“What does he want?”
Luke looked at him.
“You.”
Pike raised one hand.
“Enough.”
He moved for the phone.
Luke stepped back.
Pike grabbed his wrist.
Luke swung.
The punch caught Pike’s jaw.
Pike slammed Luke against the table.
The phone fell.
Not graphic.
Fast.
Real.
Luke shoved back.
Pike lost balance.
Luke ran.
Through the old restaurant.
Past stacked chairs.
Into a service hallway.
Pike followed.
“Luke!”
Luke hit a locked door.
Turned.
Pike approached slowly.
“Stop.”
Luke raised both hands.
“What do you want from Diane?”
Pike stopped.
“Where’s the file?”
“I don’t have it.”
“She does.”
“No.”
“Then Graham.”
“No.”
Pike looked angry.
“You people keep lying.”
Luke almost laughed.
“You’re telling me.”
Pike stepped closer.
“Vale gave Diane a key.”
Luke froze.
“What key?”
“To the deposit box.”
“Which bank?”
Pike smiled.
“So you don’t know.”
Luke’s mind raced.
Diane never mentioned a key.
She had kept more from him.
Of course.
Pike said:
“Call her.”
Luke looked toward the dropped phone far down the hall.
“No.”
Pike reached inside his coat.
Luke tensed.
Not gun.
A photograph.
Diane leaving a bank.
Aspen Federal.
Three days ago.
“Diane already opened the box.”
Luke stared.
“She has the original file.”
“No.”
“She told you she needed five million to buy it?”
Luke’s face changed.
Pike smiled.
“She already had it.”
“Then what was the money for?”
“Ask her.”
Luke felt sick.
North Ridge.
Five million.
If not the file—
what?
Pike continued.
“Diane moved the money somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“An account in Zurich.”
Luke stared.
“No.”
“Beneficiary?”
Pike smiled.
“Luke Mercer.”
Luke stopped breathing.
She had put stolen money in his name.
Not because she loved him.
Because she needed someone else holding the bag.
Luke whispered:
“She framed me.”
Pike nodded.
“Looks that way.”
Luke’s anger turned cold.
“What do you want?”
“The key.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Then help me get it.”
“For who?”
Pike hesitated.
Luke saw it.
Someone above Pike.
“Who?”
Before he could answer, headlights swept across the lodge windows.
Vehicles.
Multiple.
Pike cursed.
Graham’s voice echoed from the entrance.
“Luke!”
Pike turned.
Luke ran the other way.
Graham entered with Diane and Charles behind two security officers from Denver counsel.
Luke reached them.
Diane moved toward him.
“Are you hurt?”
He stepped away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Her face changed.
Luke held up the photograph.
“You went to Aspen Federal.”
Diane froze.
Graham looked at her.
“What?”
Luke continued.
“You already have Vale’s key.”
Graham stared.
Diane said nothing.
“And the five million?”
Luke’s voice shook.
“You put it in Switzerland under my name.”
Charles went pale.
Graham turned toward Diane.
“Tell me that’s not true.”
Diane’s silence answered.
Luke laughed.
Not loudly.
Broken.
“You were going to let me go to prison.”
“No.”
“What was your plan?”
“I could move it later.”
“When?”
“After the board vote.”
“You used me as the account owner.”
“Temporarily.”
Luke stared.
“That is the same word everyone uses before someone else gets ruined.”
Then from the dark hallway behind them, Pike shouted:
“You’re all still missing the point.”
Security turned.
Pike raised his hands.
Then looked directly at Graham.
“Ask Diane whose name is really on the Zurich account.”
Luke froze.
“What?”
Pike smiled.
“It isn’t yours.”
He looked at Graham.
“It’s Victor Mercer’s.”
Luke stopped breathing.
May you like
His father had been dead sixteen years.
And someone had opened a bank account in his name last month.
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