Chapter 13 - What Really Happened to Edmund Reed
Samuel Dyer survived surgery.
Barely.
The red flash drive survived too.
Its contents reopened a death the Reed family had spent four years grieving.
The first file was an audio recording.
Thomas Keene and Samuel Dyer.
Four years earlier.
Keene’s voice:
“You replaced the part?”
Dyer:
“I did what you asked.”
Keene:
“It has to fail after takeoff.”
Alexander stopped the recording.
He looked at Hayes.
“No.”
His face had gone pale.
“Dad was murdered.”
Hayes remained careful.
“We have evidence someone planned mechanical sabotage.”
“That was his helicopter.”
“Yes.”
“Keene worked for Marcus.”
“Yes.”
“Who ordered it?”
“We keep listening.”
Alexander pressed play.
Dyer’s recorded voice sounded frightened.
“You said nobody would get hurt.”
Keene laughed.
“You replaced a flight-control component with a defective one.”
“What did you think would happen?”
Dyer cursed.
Then asked.
“Who wants Reed dead?”
Keene replied.
“Not your problem.”
Dyer pushed.
“I’m not taking the fall.”
Keene sighed.
Then said a name.
“Camille Laurent.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
Daniel stood beside him.
Neither moved.
But the recording continued.
Dyer sounded shocked.
“The assistant?”
“Future Mrs. Reed if she plays it right.”
Alexander’s stomach turned.
Keene laughed.
“Her problem is the old man won’t stop digging.”
The audio ended.
Daniel punched the wall.
Alexander remained still.
Too still.
Hayes watched him.
“We need corroboration.”
“What else could that possibly mean?”
“It means Keene told Dyer Camille ordered it.”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t prove Keene was telling the truth.”
Alexander laughed bitterly.
Always another layer.
Always another lie.
The second file contained photographs.
Edmund meeting Rachel.
Edmund meeting Wentworth.
Edmund entering a private bank.
Someone had been following Alexander’s father.
The third contained bank transfers.
Camille to Keene.
Keene to Dyer.
Alexander stared.
“That corroborate enough?”
Hayes looked grim.
“It’s strong.”
“How much did Camille pay Keene?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
Daniel whispered.
“For killing Dad.”
Hayes examined dates.
Then frowned.
“What?”
“The money came after the crash.”
“Payment.”
“Maybe.”
She enlarged the transaction memo.
Consulting settlement.
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“Ask her.”
Camille was still hospitalized.
She had a concussion from Marcus striking her during the kidnapping.
Two officers stood outside.
Alexander walked into her room without speaking.
Camille knew immediately.
“You found it.”
He stopped.
“You knew about the drive?”
“Marcus talked about it.”
“Did you kill my father?”
Camille closed her eyes.
“No.”
Alexander put printed bank transfers on her blanket.
“Two hundred thousand dollars.”
Her face changed.
“That wasn’t for killing him.”
“What was it for?”
“Silence.”
Alexander almost laughed.
“That is not better.”
“I didn’t know Keene sabotaged the helicopter.”
“You paid him.”
“Afterward.”
“Why?”
“Because he called me after the crash.”
Camille began crying.
“He said Edmund’s death solved both our problems.”
Alexander’s blood turned cold.
“Both?”
“He knew Edmund was investigating me.”
“And?”
“He demanded money.”
“So you paid him.”
“Yes.”
“Instead of calling police.”
“If I called police, everything would come out.”
Alexander stared.
“My father was dead.”
“I was afraid.”
“Rachel was alive.”
“She had Lily.”
“I know.”
“And you were afraid of losing what?”
Camille looked at him.
“You.”
He stared at her in disbelief.
“Even then?”
“Yes.”
Alexander shook his head.
“You loved an idea.”
“No.”
“You loved a version of me who only existed because you controlled the information around him.”
Camille’s tears fell.
He leaned closer.
“That isn’t love.”
She looked away.
Alexander asked, “Did Keene tell you who ordered the sabotage?”
“No.”
“He used your name.”
Camille’s head snapped back.
“What?”
“He told Dyer you ordered it.”
“No.”
Her denial looked genuine.
But Alexander had believed her before.
“I didn’t.”
“Then why?”
“To protect Marcus?”
“No.”
“Keene?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Camille shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Alexander stood.
“You’re going to prison.”
She closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“For Rachel.”
A tear slipped down her cheek.
“Yes.”
“For the fraud.”
“Yes.”
“For kidnapping-related conspiracy if they can prove it.”
Camille nodded.
Alexander walked toward the door.
“Alexander.”
He stopped.
“I saved Hope.”
He looked back.
Camille was right.
She had.
At the boathouse, she had struck Marcus with an iron tool after he threatened the baby.
She had untied herself.
She had grabbed Hope.
She had been trying to get off the boat when police arrived.
One good act.
After years of devastating ones.
Alexander looked at her.
“And I’m grateful my daughter is alive.”
Camille’s face softened.
“But it doesn’t erase anything.”
The softness disappeared.
“No.”
He left.
Hours later Samuel Dyer regained consciousness long enough to speak with Hayes.
Alexander wasn’t allowed in.
When Hayes emerged, her expression was strange.
“What?”
“Dyer admitted sabotaging the helicopter.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“And?”
“He says Keene paid him.”
“Who paid Keene?”
“He doesn’t know.”
“Camille.”
“Maybe.”
Alexander frowned.
“You don’t believe it.”
Hayes handed him a photocopy.
“Dyer kept a written account because he was afraid Keene would kill him.”
Alexander read.
Keene said woman paid.
Never met her.
Later heard him on phone with C.
Said old man dies, granddaughter disappears, everyone gets rich.
Alexander looked up.
“Granddaughter disappears?”
“Lily.”
“Yes.”
“But Dad’s death didn’t make Lily disappear.”
“No.”
“Unless that was supposed to happen too.”
Hayes nodded.
Alexander felt sick.
“Marcus was supposed to take her.”
“Possibly.”
“But he didn’t.”
“Rachel moved.”
“Why?”
“We think Edmund warned her shortly before the crash.”
Alexander stared.
His father may have saved Lily with one final warning.
Hayes continued.
“Dyer also said Keene kept an insurance file.”
“Where?”
“Storage facility.”
Police found it before sunrise.
Inside were documents implicating Marcus in blackmail, fraud, domestic abuse, bribery, and the fertility-clinic scheme.
But the most disturbing item was a series of text messages.
Keene:
Old man meeting lawyer Friday.
M:
Handle it.
Keene:
Same arrangement?
M:
Yes.
Keene:
C knows?
M:
She doesn’t need details.
Alexander reread the final line.
Camille doesn’t need details.
Maybe she didn’t order his father’s death.
Maybe Marcus used her corruption as cover.
Hayes pointed at another exchange.
Three days after the crash.
Camille:
What did you do?
Keene:
Solved it.
Camille:
I never asked for this.
Keene:
You asked us to keep Edmund from exposing you.
Camille:
I meant stop the investigation.
Keene:
Then stop asking questions.
Alexander sat.
Camille had still paid him.
She had still covered it up.
But Marcus had escalated the conspiracy into murder.
And Keene had executed it.
There was one final file.
A scanned document.
Rachel’s handwriting.
Hayes handed it over.
Alexander read.
Marcus once told me something while drunk.
He said Camille thinks she created him.
She didn’t.
He was dangerous before she found him.
She simply gave him money, access, and a reason.
That may be her greatest crime.
Alexander lowered the page.
Hayes nodded.
“Rachel understood it.”
“She always understood people.”
His voice softened.
Hayes closed the folder.
“Marcus will face Rachel’s homicide, Edmund’s homicide conspiracy, kidnapping, fraud, and a list of other charges.”
“And Camille?”
“Charges are coming.”
Alexander looked through the hospital nursery window where Hope was being examined.
Lily stood beside Rebecca.
She was making faces through the glass.
Hope laughed.
The sound reached them faintly.
Alexander’s eyes filled.
“What happens now?”
“To Marcus?”
“No.”
He looked at his daughters.
“To them.”
Hayes followed his gaze.
“That part isn’t my department.”
Alexander smiled faintly.
“Lucky you.”
His phone rang.
Family attorney.
Alexander answered.
“Mr. Reed, we have an issue with Lily’s trust.”
He closed his eyes.
“Of course we do.”
“What now?”
“The trustees met.”
“And?”
“With paternity confirmed, Lily’s eleven percent stake activated.”
“Fine.”
“That isn’t the issue.”
Alexander waited.
“The same trust language may apply to Hope.”
He looked at the baby.
“So?”
“It means your daughters collectively control twenty-two percent of Reed Holdings.”
Alexander frowned.
“And?”
“With your personal voting block…”
The attorney hesitated.
“You now have effective controlling interest.”
Alexander understood.
Marcus had not been pursuing a few million dollars.
Through Hope, he had been trying to gain influence over an empire.
But the attorney wasn’t finished.
“There is one more clause.”
Alexander almost laughed.
“Of course.”
“What?”
“If evidence establishes that a trustee or company officer knowingly concealed a biological heir…”
His pulse shifted.
“Yes?”
“They permanently forfeit all trust-related benefits.”
Alexander thought of Camille.
She had been named in several Reed family instruments.
“What does she lose?”
“Everything.”
Alexander looked toward her hospital room.
Camille had spent seven years protecting the future she believed she deserved.
And the moment Lily walked into the church, that future had disappeared.
But wealth was the least important thing she had lost.
Alexander’s attorney continued.
“And there’s another name affected.”
Alexander frowned.
“Who?”
A pause.
“Your mother.”
He went still.
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor Reed admitted she knew about Lily.”
Alexander stared through the glass.
One secret.
Seven years.
May you like
And the consequences still weren’t finished.
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