Chapter 3 - THE WATCH ON THE TABLE
The memory card sat inside a clear evidence bag between us.
I couldn't stop looking at it.
My grandfather's watch rested beside it.
For fifteen years, I had believed that watch was gone.
My father had told me it disappeared during a house move.
Now it had been found inside a warehouse connected to my sister's wedding.
Nothing about that made sense.
Elena watched my face.
“You recognize it.”
“My grandfather gave it to me when I was sixteen.”
“What happened to it?”
“My father said it was lost.”
She nodded.
“That answer may become important.”
Claire stepped inside with my medication.
“You need rest.”
Elena stood.
“We'll let her rest.”
Before leaving, she looked at me.
“Your parents are being interviewed separately.”
My stomach tightened.
“Are they under arrest?”
“Not at this point.”
That distinction mattered.
I watched her leave.
Then Claire adjusted my IV.
“Your family has been arguing in the hallway for two hours.”
“About me?”
“Mostly about the wedding.”
I almost laughed.
Even now.
My sister's wedding still mattered more.
By afternoon, I could sit upright.
A federal medical specialist examined the surgical wound and cleared me for limited conversation.
Elena returned with a tablet.
She played a security recording.
The image showed the catering warehouse behind Jessica's wedding venue.
Andrew entered first.
Then my father.
Then my mother.
Then Jessica.
All four walked inside.
A few minutes later, another man arrived.
Older.
Gray hair.
Expensive coat.
I didn't recognize him.
“Who is that?”
“Richard Vale,” Elena said. “Chairman of Caldwell Strategic Holdings.”
Andrew's employer.
She paused the video.
“Your sister's fiancé works directly under him.”
I stared at the screen.
“Why would my family meet him at a catering warehouse?”
“That is what we're investigating.”
She played another clip.
My father handed Andrew a document envelope.
Then Andrew handed him the black leather case.
The same case from the photograph.
My throat tightened.
“What was in it?”
“We don't know.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because three months ago, during your overseas assignment, you intercepted information concerning a private network moving restricted technology through shell companies.”
My pulse quickened.
“You know about that?”
“We know enough.”
I looked away.
My mission had never been discussed with my family.
Not even when I nearly died.
Elena continued.
“One of the shell companies was connected to Caldwell Strategic.”
I felt cold.
“So this is connected to my operation.”
“Possibly.”
She placed another photograph on the bed.
It showed a conference room overseas.
Several men stood around a table.
One face had been circled.
Richard Vale.
I stared at him.
“I saw him before.”
Elena's eyes sharpened.
“Where?”
“Three months ago.”
“Doing what?”
“Meeting someone I was tracking.”
She leaned forward.
“Who?”
I closed my eyes.
A memory surfaced.
A red tie.
A silver watch.
A folder stamped with a symbol.
And my grandfather's initials.
“J.W.”
Elena went still.
“Your grandfather's initials?”
“Yes.”
She exchanged a glance with the other agent.
Then she opened a file.
“We found the same initials inside the wedding warehouse.”
My heart started beating faster.
“What does my grandfather have to do with this?”
“We don't know.”
The answer was honest.
And somehow terrifying.
That evening, my parents were finally allowed into the room.
My mother entered first.
Her makeup was perfect.
Her eyes weren't.
My father followed.
He looked exhausted.
Jessica remained outside.
My mother approached the bed.
“I didn't know you were seriously injured.”
I stared at her.
“You were told.”
She lowered her eyes.
“I was frightened.”
“You signed a refusal.”
“I thought the doctor was exaggerating.”
Claire had already documented everything.
My mother knew that.
My father stepped forward.
“We need to talk privately.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“This concerns the family.”
“It concerned my life.”
Silence.
Then my father reached into his coat.
He placed something on the blanket.
A small brass key.
I recognized it.
It had belonged to my grandfather.
“What is that?”
His voice dropped.
“Your grandfather left something behind.”
I looked at him.
“Where?”
“Your house.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
He glanced toward the door.
“Before he died, he told me never to give you this unless you were in danger.”
I looked at the key.
“You waited fifteen years?”
“I thought keeping you away from it was protecting you.”
“From what?”
My father didn't answer.
Instead, he said something that made the room feel smaller.
“Your grandfather knew what Andrew's company was doing before Andrew was born.”
I stared at him.
That was impossible.
Then my father whispered:
“He left evidence.”
A shadow appeared behind the glass door.
Jessica.
She was crying.
But she wasn't looking at me.
She was staring at the brass key.
My father saw her.
His face changed.
“Jessica,” he said.
She opened the door.
“I know where that key goes.”
Everyone went silent.
She looked at me.
May you like
Then she said:
“It opens the box Andrew told me never to touch.”
