Chapter 16 - Grant Whitmore Finally Told the Truth, But It Wasn’t EnoughThe shot missed Ethan by inches.
Daniel triggered the building alarm.
Mason pulled Lauren behind a filing cabinet.
Rex barked violently.
A second shot struck the wall.
Then sirens sounded outside.
This time, real police arrived quickly.
The shooter disappeared.
Ethan spent the next three hours giving statements while carefully avoiding unnecessary details that could send the entire investigation into chaos.
Daniel handed detectives the break-in evidence and attempted-shooting information.
He preserved Caleb's files separately.
"We go federal tomorrow morning," he told Ethan.
"No more waiting."
Ethan agreed.
Almost.
At 2:10 a.m., his phone rang.
Grant Whitmore.
Ethan answered.
"What?"
Grant sounded exhausted.
"Nolan tried to kill you."
"Your powers of observation remain impressive."
"I didn't order it."
"Congratulations."
"I need to meet you."
"No."
"I know where Nolan is going."
That changed things.
"Where?"
"Not over the phone."
Ethan looked at Lauren.
She was listening.
"Why should I trust you?"
"You shouldn't."
For once, Grant sounded honest.
"But Caleb trusted you. And I owe him more than I can repay."
Ethan almost hung up.
Then Grant said:
"Nolan is going to empty the pool at eleven."
"We know."
"He isn't trying to destroy the chamber."
"What then?"
"He's trying to recover something inside the old drainage reservoir."
Ethan's pulse changed.
"What?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I swear."
"Your word doesn't carry much weight."
"Fair."
Grant gave him a meeting location.
Public.
A church parking lot.
Thirty minutes later, Ethan, Lauren and Mason watched Grant arrive alone.
Lauren didn't approach her father.
Mason remained partly hidden.
Grant stepped from his car and saw Ethan.
Then Rex.
His face changed when he saw the dog.
"He always liked you better."
"He has good instincts."
Grant accepted the insult.
"You have Caleb's drive."
"Maybe."
"You know about the fire."
"Yes."
Grant looked toward Lauren.
"I'm sorry."
She said nothing.
Grant turned back to Ethan.
"I knew the building was dangerous."
"Did you burn it?"
"No."
"Did Wexler?"
"I never ordered him to."
"That's not what I asked."
Grant closed his eyes.
"Thomas believed a small electrical fire would force the insurer to pay for repairs."
Lauren looked horrified.
"He started it?"
"I didn't know until afterward."
"Five people died."
"I know."
"And you covered it up."
"Yes."
"Nolan helped."
"Yes."
"Then blackmailed you."
"At first. Later we became partners."
"Partners in what?"
"Keeping the past buried."
Ethan laughed.
"Your family really loves burying things."
Grant flinched.
"What happened to Caleb?"
Grant looked at him.
"He found everything."
"We know."
"He confronted Mason. Mason confronted me. I panicked."
"You framed him as drunk."
"Yes."
"You framed me."
"Yes."
Ethan stepped closer.
"Why?"
"Because Nolan told me if the police investigated Caleb honestly, the fire evidence would surface."
"So you sacrificed us."
Grant's eyes filled.
"Yes."
Ethan wanted to hit him.
He didn't.
"What did you tell Nolan to do with Caleb?"
"Take him somewhere private until we could negotiate."
"Negotiate?"
"Caleb wanted the truth public."
"As he should."
"I thought money could solve it."
"Of course you did."
Grant lowered his head.
"Nolan took him to the river house. I sent Mason with him because I didn't trust Nolan alone."
"Mason left."
Grant looked toward his supposedly dead son.
"Yes."
Mason stepped forward.
Grant nearly collapsed.
"Mason."
"Surprise."
Grant stared.
Tears appeared instantly.
Mason showed none.
"You knew I survived?" he asked.
Grant shook his head.
"Nolan told me—"
"Of course he did."
Grant reached toward him.
Mason stepped back.
"No."
Grant lowered his hand.
Ethan said, "What happened after Mason left Caleb at the river house?"
Grant looked at Nolan's former partner turned enemy.
"Nolan told me Caleb escaped."
"Did you believe him?"
"I wanted to."
"Not good enough."
"No."
Grant reached inside his coat slowly.
Ethan tensed.
Grant removed a folded paper.
Old.
Water-damaged.
"I received this two years ago."
Ethan took it.
A handwritten note.
I'M ALIVE. DON'T LOOK FOR ME. IF NOLAN THINKS YOU KNOW WHERE I AM, HE'LL COME AFTER ETHAN.
Ethan recognized Caleb's handwriting.
His legs almost weakened.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Grant whispered, "Because I was a coward."
Ethan wanted to kill him for that answer.
Instead, he read the note again.
Caleb had been alive two years ago.
Grant continued.
"Three months later, Nolan somehow learned I'd received contact."
"Then what?"
"Nothing. Caleb never contacted me again."
Ethan folded the note.
"What does this have to do with the pool?"
Grant looked toward the distant lights of the estate.
"Before Caleb disappeared, he told Mason he'd hidden something inside an old drainage reservoir connected to the pool."
"What?"
"He called it insurance."
"The original documents?"
"Maybe."
"Why would Nolan wait three years?"
"He couldn't access it."
"Why?"
"Because the reservoir is sealed behind the main pool structure. It can only be reached when the water level is lowered and the old circulation system is opened."
The renovation.
That was the real reason.
Nolan had been waiting for the pool reconstruction.
Grant continued.
"When Ethan added the tracer, Nolan realized someone had discovered the fifth line."
"So he moved up the schedule."
"Yes."
Mason asked, "What could Caleb have hidden that Nolan fears more than the flash drive?"
Grant looked at him.
"I don't know."
Rex suddenly growled.
Everyone turned.
A vehicle passed slowly along the road.
Black SUV.
Tinted windows.
Grant's face drained.
"Nolan."
The SUV accelerated away.
Ethan looked at the time.
10:14 p.m.
Forty-six minutes until the pool was emptied.
Grant whispered, "He's heading home."
Ethan looked toward the mansion.
May you like
Three years of lies had begun beside that water.
They were about to end there too.
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