Chapter 7 - The Bodyguard's Impossible Confession
Julian Voss had trusted Tomas with his life for twelve years.
Now that trust was hanging by a thread.
"What about my father?" Julian demanded.
Tomas remained beside the door.
His face was pale.
"I should have told you years ago."
"Then tell me now."
Tomas swallowed.
"Your father wasn't killed by the Drescos."
Julian's expression hardened.
"That's impossible."
"Someone wanted you to believe they were responsible."
I watched Julian struggle to control his breathing.
His father had died when Julian was twenty-five.
The killing had started a violent feud that had consumed years of his life.
"Who ordered it?" he asked.
Tomas looked at Detective Brooks.
"I want an attorney before I give a formal statement."
Julian stared at him.
"You're asking for a lawyer?"
"Yes."
For a moment, I thought Julian might lose control.
Instead, he stepped backward.
"Fine."
Detective Brooks arranged for Tomas to give a recorded statement with counsel present.
I remained beside Julian in the waiting area.
He sat with his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor.
"I don't know what to believe anymore," he whispered.
I sat beside him.
"Neither do I."
He looked toward me.
"You should have been left out of this."
"Maybe."
"I'm sorry."
I studied him.
His apology was quiet.
Unpolished.
And unlike the fifty-thousand-dollar envelope, it came without conditions.
"Then help make sure nobody else gets hurt."
Julian nodded.
Hours later, Brooks returned.
Tomas had provided documents that could change the entire investigation.
According to his statement, Julian's father had discovered a criminal medical-records scheme connected to the Drescos.
Before he could expose it, someone inside the Voss organization arranged his death.
Julian stared.
"Who?"
Brooks hesitated.
"Your father's former business partner."
"Leonard Vale?"
She nodded.
Julian slowly stood.
Leonard Vale had been his father's closest associate.
After the murder, he'd helped Julian inherit the family business.
He'd advised him.
Protected him.
And encouraged the war against Lorenzo Dresco.
My heart tightened.
"He turned you against the wrong people."
Julian looked devastated.
Brooks continued.
"There's also evidence that Leonard worked with a private hospital administrator to falsify May's death record."
"Why?"
"We don't know yet."
I remembered my mother's locket.
The numbers.
The dates.
The hidden message.
Suddenly, something clicked.
"Evelyn worked with the records," I whispered.
Julian turned.
"What?"
"My mother was an accountant. May was hidden after her supposed death. Leonard was involved in both cases."
I looked toward Detective Brooks.
"What if my mother discovered the payments?"
Brooks nodded slowly.
"That would explain why she became a target."
Julian reached for the photograph of May.
Then stopped.
His eyes fixed on something.
"What is it?" I asked.
He pointed to the reflected image of Walter.
"There's another person behind him."
Detective Brooks enlarged the photograph.
A man's face appeared in the glass.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Wearing a dark overcoat.
Julian went still.
I looked at him.
"Who is it?"
He whispered, "Leonard Vale."
Then his phone vibrated.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
It contained a recent photograph of Leonard standing outside my hospital.
Beside him was Priya.
And the message read:
May you like
The nurse was never the real target.
Her mother left you something far more dangerous than May Voss.
