Chapter 15 - What Victor Offered
Roman did not deny it.
That hurt more than Tessa expected.
They stood alone inside Dr. Shaw’s office after Clara and Dante stepped into the hallway.
The anonymous message remained glowing on Tessa’s phone.
“What did Victor offer my father?” she asked.
Roman took a long breath.
“I don’t know everything.”
“That is not the question.”
“No.”
His answer was immediate.
Tessa crossed her arms.
“Then answer it.”
Roman looked older beneath the hospital’s fluorescent lights.
“My father once told me about a union president in Boston who refused him.”
“Sean.”
“I didn’t know his name then.”
“What did Victor want?”
“He wanted Sean to leave the docks.”
Tessa frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Victor knew Arthur Ward and Murphy were going to kill him.”
The explanation struck Tessa unexpectedly.
“He tried to save him?”
“In his way.”
“What does that mean?”
Roman leaned against the desk.
“Victor offered your father two million dollars, new identities for the whole family, and a house in Nova Scotia.”
Tessa almost smiled.
Not because it was funny.
Because it sounded exactly like Sean Callahan to refuse.
“He said no.”
Roman nodded.
“Victor called him the most stubborn man he had ever met.”
“That sounds like Dad.”
“He believed leaving would hand the union to Murphy.”
Tessa looked away.
Memories rose unexpectedly.
Her father coming home with bruised knuckles.
Her mother arguing in whispers.
Sean kneeling beside Tessa’s bed and telling her that courage was expensive because fear was always cheaper.
She had thought those were simply things fathers said.
Now they sounded like preparation.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she asked.
“Because I only remembered the conversation after we found the photograph.”
“That’s not the whole truth.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
“Try again.”
He looked directly at her.
“Because I was afraid you would think Victor’s offer meant he knew your father was going to die.”
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you considered it.”
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt.
But lies would have hurt more.
Tessa put her phone down.
“Roman, whatever this is between us—”
“It’s not ‘whatever.’”
She paused.
He stepped closer.
“I know exactly what it is.”
“Then you understand why you can’t protect me by choosing which truths I can handle.”
His expression softened.
“You’re right.”
“That was fast.”
“I’m learning.”
Despite herself, she almost smiled.
The door opened.
Dante entered carrying his tablet.
“We traced Halcyon.”
Roman turned.
“And?”
“Halcyon Medical Trust dissolved nine years ago. Its remaining assets moved through six shell charities.”
“Final beneficiary?”
Dante looked uncomfortable.
“Elias Ward.”
Tessa felt vindicated and terrified at the same time.
“Can we prove it?”
“Not yet. Most transfers are legal on paper.”
Roman paced once across the office.
“We need something direct.”
Tessa thought about the South Station case.
“The cassette.”
Dante shook his head.
“Sean naming Ward gives us suspicion. Not proof of current crimes.”
Clara entered behind him.
“Then maybe Celeste has it.”
Everyone turned.
Tessa blinked.
“What?”
Clara held up her phone.
“I just got a message.”
The name on the screen was Celeste Arden.
Tessa had not seen Celeste since the Park Avenue penthouse three months earlier.
Roman’s expression turned instantly cold.
“What did she say?”
Clara handed him the phone.
I NEED TO SPEAK WITH TESSA. NOT ROMAN. OWEN IS IN TROUBLE AGAIN.
Roman gave a humorless laugh.
“Convenient.”
Tessa took the phone.
“Maybe.”
She typed.
WHERE ARE YOU?
The response arrived almost immediately.
BRATTLEBORO. TRAIN STATION. COME ALONE.
Roman read over her shoulder.
“No.”
Tessa looked at him.
“You were doing well with the learning.”
“She betrayed me once.”
“To save her brother.”
“She led three gunmen into my restaurant.”
“And she has something about Elias.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No. But she contacted Clara instead of you. That means she’s afraid of someone who might monitor your communications.”
Dante nodded reluctantly.
“She may have a point.”
Roman gave him a look.
Dante shrugged.
“I enjoy employment, Boss, but I enjoy being correct more.”
Tessa typed another message.
TOMORROW. NOON.
Roman exhaled.
“You’re not going alone.”
“She specifically said alone.”
“You can appear alone.”
Tessa studied him.
“You’re going to hide nearby.”
“I prefer ‘maintain strategic distance.’”
Clara smiled.
“You two are exhausting.”
The following afternoon, Tessa stepped onto the platform in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Snow remained along the tracks despite the warming spring.
Celeste stood near the far bench.
She looked nothing like the polished woman from Marlowe.
No designer dress.
No diamonds.
Jeans.
A wool coat.
Hair pulled back.
Fear etched into every movement.
Tessa approached.
“Where’s Owen?”
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“I don’t know.”
Tessa’s stomach dropped.
“What happened?”
“He disappeared yesterday.”
“Police?”
“I called.”
“And?”
“They think he ran.”
Celeste shook her head violently.
“He didn’t.”
She pulled a flash drive from her pocket.
“Before Marcus was arrested, Owen heard him talking to somebody.”
“Who?”
“Elias Ward.”
Tessa stared at her.
Celeste pressed the drive into Tessa’s hand.
“Owen recorded part of the conversation on his phone.”
“Why didn’t you give this to Roman three months ago?”
Celeste looked ashamed.
“Because Owen begged me not to.”
“Why?”
Celeste’s answer came in a whisper.
“Because Ward told Marcus that Roman Bellamy’s father ordered Sean Callahan killed.”
Tessa stopped breathing.
Then a train horn sounded.
Celeste suddenly looked past Tessa.
Her face went white.
“Tessa.”
“What?”
“That man.”
Tessa turned.
A gray sedan had stopped across the street.
The driver raised a phone.
Celeste grabbed Tessa’s arm.
“He was outside our house yesterday.”
The sedan accelerated.
Not toward them.
Away.
But the warning was clear.
May you like
Whoever had taken Owen now knew Celeste had handed Tessa the recording.
And this time, they were no longer hiding in shadows.
