Chapter 11 - THE EMPTY BALLROOM
Nobody went alone.
Not Ethan.
Not Norah.
Not even the federal investigator Connor had demanded.
They followed instructions only far enough to keep him talking.
The abandoned ballroom had once hosted charity galas.
Now dust covered the chandeliers.
White sheets hung over furniture.
Connor stood near the old stage.
He looked exhausted.
The confidence was gone.
“Where’s the notebook?” he asked.
Ethan remained several yards away.
“Where’s Grant?”
Connor laughed bitterly.
“You still think Grant cares whether I survive?”
Norah stepped forward.
“You threatened Sophie.”
“I sent a picture.”
“You photographed a child.”
Connor looked at her.
“You always make things sound worse than they are.”
The sentence was so familiar that Norah almost smiled.
He had used it every time she accused him of hurting her.
Every time he moved money without permission.
Every time he mocked her and called it a joke.
Not anymore.
“No,” she said. “You spent years making terrible things sound smaller so I would tolerate them.”
Connor’s expression changed.
“You think Vale rescued you?”
“No.”
She looked at Ethan.
“He knows better than to try.”
Ethan almost smiled.
Connor’s jaw tightened.
“I need the evidence.”
“Why?”
“Because Grant will bury me.”
“Then testify.”
“You don’t understand what he’s capable of.”
Norah took another step.
“Then tell the truth.”
Connor stared at her.
For the first time, she saw something she had once mistaken for confidence.
Fear.
Finally he spoke.
“Evelyn found out Grant was stealing from Vale Meridian. She told him she was going to Ethan.”
Ethan’s entire body tightened.
“Keep talking.”
“Grant told Martin to make sure she never reached the meeting.”
“What did Martin do?”
Connor looked at the floor.
“I don’t know every detail. I swear.”
“Did you know she could die?”
Silence.
That was enough.
Norah’s stomach turned.
Connor whispered, “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Connor looked toward the doors.
“You brought them.”
“Of course we did,” Norah said.
He laughed once.
“I really did teach you to stop trusting people.”
“No.”
Norah shook her head.
“You taught me to trust myself.”
Agents entered.
Connor didn’t resist.
As they placed him under arrest, he looked at Ethan.
“You still don’t know the worst part.”
Ethan went still.
“What?”
Connor nodded toward Norah.
“Ask Grant why he chose her identity.”
Norah frowned.
“He chose me because I was connected to Connor.”
Connor shook his head.
“No.”
He smiled bitterly.
“He chose you because your father worked for Vale Meridian.”
Norah’s breath caught.
“My father was a high-school teacher.”
May you like
Connor looked directly at her.
“That’s what he told you.”
