Whitney turned the page.
October 17 — Evelyn Sawyer — $50,000 — refused.
Her grandmother had been offered money.
She had refused.
Then another entry.
October 18 — Victor Hale — $100,000 — accepted.
Whitney froze.
She looked at Victor.
“You took money from them.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor remained silent.
“Why?”
Finally he answered.
“Because that money saved your life.”
Whitney stared.
“When Evelyn refused the money, they came after your family.”
“Who?”
“Your father disappeared. Your grandmother changed her identity. You were moved away from everyone connected to the case.”
Whitney looked down.
“My whole childhood…”
“Yes.”
“…was built around hiding me?”
Victor nodded.
Then Whitney noticed something.
A page had been torn from the ledger.
“What is missing?”
David's face changed.
“The most important page.”
“What was on it?”
“Li Wei's final payment.”
“Who received it?”
Victor answered.
“Your father.”
David shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why does Victor say that?”
“Because he thinks I took the money.”
Victor stared at him.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“I don't know.”
Before anyone could continue, the bookstore door rattled.
Someone tried to force it open.
A voice shouted from outside.
“David Sawyer!”
Whitney recognized it.
Gerald.
“You've hidden long enough!”
The door exploded inward.
Several men rushed inside.
Gerald entered last.
His eyes landed on Whitney.
“Give me the ledger.”
Whitney held it tightly.
“No.”
Gerald smiled.
“You don't understand what you're holding.”
“I understand enough.”
He stepped closer.
“You think your father is innocent?”
Whitney looked at David.
Gerald laughed.
“He isn't.”
David's face went pale.
Gerald pointed at him.
“Ask him where he was the night Li Wei died.”
Whitney's voice trembled.
“Dad?”
David closed his eyes.
“I was there.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
David looked at his daughter.
“I watched someone else do it.”
“Who?”
He looked toward Gerald.
Then Victor.
Then the ledger.
Finally, he whispered:
“Your grandmother.”
Whitney couldn't breathe.
Gerald smiled.
Victor went completely still.
And somewhere outside the bookstore, an engine roared.
Whitney stared at her father.
“Grandma?”
David nodded slowly.
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds impossible.”
“I know.”
Gerald smiled.
“Now you understand why she hid everything.”
David turned toward him.
“Don't use Evelyn to save yourself.”
Gerald laughed.
“Your grandmother was there.”
“She was trying to save Li Wei.”
“She was the last person seen with him.”
Whitney looked at David.
“What happened that night?”
David's expression was filled with pain.
“Your grandmother had discovered the financial records. She knew money was being moved between companies.”
“And Li Wei?”
“He planned to expose everyone.”
Gerald interrupted.
“And that's why he had to die.”
The room went silent.
Whitney looked at him.
“You're admitting it?”
Gerald's smile disappeared.
“I didn't say that.”
Then a gunshot echoed somewhere outside.
Everyone froze.
Victor moved toward the door.
Claire appeared from the shadows.
Her coat was torn.
Her face was pale.
“You need to leave,” she said.
Whitney stared at her.
“You.”
Claire looked at her.
“I knew you'd find the box.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“Did you betray my grandmother?”
“No.”
“Did you work for Gerald?”
“Yes.”
“Did you help him?”
“I helped Evelyn.”
Victor stepped forward.
“That is what you said thirty years ago.”
Claire looked at him.
“And I was right.”
Whitney's voice shook.
“Then tell me who killed Li Wei.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“I don't know.”
Whitney's frustration exploded.
“Everyone says that!”
Claire finally looked at her.
“I know who ordered it.”
Silence.
“Who?”
Claire looked at David.
Then Victor.
Then Whitney.
“Gerald.”
Whitney stared.
“But Gerald wasn't alone.”
“No.”
“Who helped him?”
Claire swallowed.
“Your father.”
David stepped backward.
“No.”
“You were there.”
“I didn't help him!”
“I know.”
“Then why say that?”
“Because Gerald believed you did.”
Whitney looked between them.
“Then who actually helped Gerald?”
Claire reached into her coat.
She pulled out a small cassette recorder.
Whitney stared.
“The original.”
Victor's face changed.
“You still have it.”
“I kept it for thirty years.”
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn told me to.”
Whitney stepped closer.
“Play it.”
Claire shook her head.
“Not here.”
“I want the truth.”
Claire looked at her.
Then pressed PLAY.
Static filled the chamber.
Li Wei's voice emerged.
“If you're hearing this, then Gerald has already betrayed us.”
Whitney's heart pounded.
“I know he plans to take the investors' money.”
A pause.
“But Gerald is not the man I fear most.”
Whitney looked at Victor.
“The person I fear is the one who has access to everything.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“She knows the contracts.
She knows the accounts.
She knows where the evidence is.
She knows Evelyn.”
Whitney stared at Claire.
Then Li Wei spoke her name.
“Claire Morgan.”
Claire began to cry.
“If Claire betrays us, there will be no way to recover the evidence.”
The recording continued.
“I believe Claire will eventually be forced to choose.”
“She will choose Evelyn.”
Whitney looked at Claire.
“You trusted him.”
“Yes.”
Then another voice appeared.
Gerald.
“You should have taken the offer.”
Li Wei answered:
“I will never sell my people.”
Gerald laughed.
“You don't understand how this works.”
Then Evelyn's voice.
“Gerald, leave him alone.”
Gerald replied:
“You're too late, Evelyn.”
A crash.
A scream.
Then a gunshot.
Whitney covered her mouth.
Evelyn screamed.
David shouted:
“Get down!”
Another shot.
Silence.