Chapter 10 â The Hunt for Evelyn
Chapter 10 â The Hunt for Evelyn
The anonymous photograph arrived at 9:17 p.m.
Chloe stared at the screen without blinking.
Richard's late father.
A younger Evelyn Brooks.
Standing side by side outside what appeared to be a private law office.
The timestamp in the lower corner read:
Eleven Years Earlier.
Long before Richard had met Evelyn.
Long before she became Anderson Global's brilliant executive.
Long before anyone believed she had simply appeared in Richard's life by chance.
Another message followed.
She's already running. Find her before she destroys what's left.
No sender.
No number.
Just another encrypted message that disappeared thirty seconds after Chloe opened it.
Michael Carter, sitting across the dining table, immediately noticed the color drain from her face.
"What happened?"
Without speaking, Chloe handed him the phone.
He studied the image carefully.
"This changes everything."
Chloe nodded slowly.
"No."
"It confirms everything."
At the same moment...
Evelyn Brooks stood inside her Manhattan penthouse surrounded by half-packed designer suitcases.
The television remained muted.
Every news channel displayed the same headline.
ANDERSON GLOBAL BOARD IN CRISIS
MYSTERY SHAREHOLDER SAVED COMPANY
FORMER EXECUTIVE UNDER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
Her name appeared beneath every headline.
Not as a respected executive.
As the center of a growing scandal.
She zipped another suitcase shut.
"How much longer?"
Her attorney, Simon Graves, glanced at his watch.
"The private jet leaves in ninety minutes."
"What about immigration?"
"I've arranged everything."
She frowned.
"You sound uncertain."
Simon avoided her eyes.
"There are... complications."
"What complications?"
"The police have requested financial records."
"They don't have enough."
"They may soon."
Evelyn's expression hardened.
"Then we leave tonight."
Across the city...
Detective Laura Bennett walked quickly into the Financial Crimes Division carrying three thick folders.
Captain Howard Ellis looked up from his desk.
"You look like you've solved something."
"Not yet."
"But we're close."
She spread dozens of photographs across the conference table.
Richard's father.
Evelyn.
Harold Simmons.
Several unfamiliar businessmen.
All connected by meetings that stretched back more than a decade.
Captain Ellis crossed his arms.
"I thought this investigation started with workplace intimidation."
"So did I."
Laura pointed toward the oldest photograph.
"It actually started eleven years ago."
Michael Carter immediately contacted Richard.
"I need you to come to Escalante Holdings."
Richard hesitated.
"Is Chloe there?"
"Yes."
"Does she want to see me?"
"No."
Richard's chest tightened.
"I need you anyway."
Twenty-five minutes later...
Richard entered the conference room.
Chloe stood beside the projector.
Neither smiled.
Neither looked away.
Michael displayed the anonymous photograph on the screen.
Richard stared at it.
His breathing slowed.
"I've seen this building."
Chloe turned toward him.
"Where?"
"My father took me there once."
"When?"
"I was twenty-two."
He frowned, trying to remember.
"He told me he had an important meeting."
"I waited outside."
Laura Bennett entered the room at that exact moment.
"That wasn't just any meeting."
Everyone turned toward her.
"It was the week before your father changed his will."
Silence settled over the room.
Richard looked confused.
"My father changed his will?"
Laura nodded.
"He never told you?"
Richard slowly shook his head.
"No."
Laura opened another folder.
"We obtained court authorization this afternoon."
She removed several notarized documents.
"These are copies."
Richard scanned the first page.
His father's signature.
The family attorney's signature.
The date.
Exactly one week before his fatal heart attack.
"What does it say?"
Michael asked.
Laura answered quietly.
"Your father planned to remove three board members."
She pointed toward the names.
Harold Simmons.
Charles Benton.
Gregory Hall.
Richard stared at the list.
"They were his closest advisers."
"Apparently..."
Laura replied,
"...he no longer trusted them."
Meanwhile...
Evelyn's driver loaded the final suitcase into a waiting black SUV.
She locked the penthouse door one last time.
No hesitation.
No regret.
Only calculation.
As the elevator descended...
She dialed a number from memory.
The call connected immediately.
A man's voice answered.
"Everything ready?"
"Almost."
"The investigators recovered more than expected."
"They won't reach you."
"They'd better not."
She lowered her voice.
"If I'm arrested..."
"...I'm not protecting anyone."
The line fell silent.
Finally...
The man answered.
"You won't be arrested."
Then he hung up.
Evelyn looked at her reflection in the mirrored elevator wall.
For the first time in years...
She looked afraid.
Back at police headquarters...
Laura's forensic analyst hurried into the office.
"We found the anonymous sender."
Laura looked up instantly.
"Who?"
"Not exactly who."
"What do you mean?"
"The messages were routed through dozens of encrypted servers."
She sighed.
"But?"
"We traced the original upload location."
He handed her the report.
Laura's eyes widened.
"The Anderson Estate?"
He nodded.
"The messages originated from inside Richard's late father's private study."
Michael frowned.
"Impossible."
"The house has been empty for years."
Laura closed the folder.
"Apparently..."
"...it hasn't."
Forty-five minutes later...
Three police vehicles arrived outside the old Anderson estate.
The mansion stood dark against the night sky.
Dust covered the front gates.
Dead leaves collected along the stone driveway.
Richard slowly stepped from Laura's car.
"I haven't been here since the funeral."
She looked toward the house.
"Someone has."
The front door opened surprisingly easily.
Inside...
Everything remained exactly as Richard remembered.
His father's books.
Family portraits.
The grandfather clock still ticking quietly in the hallway.
As though time itself had refused to move.
Laura led the search.
Every room appeared untouched.
Until they reached the study.
One bookshelf stood slightly away from the wall.
Richard frowned.
"That wasn't like that before."
Laura pushed against the shelf.
A hidden door slowly opened.
Behind it...
A narrow staircase descended beneath the house.
Michael whispered,
"Your father had a bunker?"
Richard looked stunned.
"I never knew."
The underground room contained dozens of filing cabinets.
Old computers.
Locked safes.
Stacks of labeled archive boxes.
Laura carefully opened the nearest cabinet.
Every folder carried the same title.
Project Phoenix.
Michael looked confused.
"What is Phoenix?"
Richard answered quietly.
"My father used that word."
Everyone turned toward him.
"He always said..."
"'A real empire survives because someone prepares for the fire before anyone smells smoke.'"
Laura opened the first folder.
Inside were surveillance photographs.
Bank statements.
Private investigator reports.
All documenting the same woman.
Evelyn Brooks.
For eleven years.
Richard sat heavily in a chair.
"My father was investigating her."
Laura nodded.
"Long before you met her."
Michael continued reading.
"He believed someone was using Evelyn to infiltrate Anderson Global."
Richard looked up sharply.
"Who?"
Laura shook her head.
"That's the one answer missing."
At that exact moment...
One of the detectives called from another corner.
"Detective!"
Laura hurried over.
The detective held an old cassette recorder.
Attached was a handwritten label.
If Richard ever finds this...
Richard's hands trembled.
Laura pressed Play.
Static filled the room.
Then...
His father's voice.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
"Richard..."
"If you're hearing this..."
"...I failed."
The room became perfectly silent.
"I discovered people inside the company working for someone else."
"I don't know how many."
"I only know one thing."
"They reached Evelyn before they reached you."
Richard closed his eyes.
His father's voice continued.
"If anything happens to me..."
"Trust actions."
"Not appearances."
"Especially if someone tells you exactly what you want to hear."
The recording ended with heavy breathing.
Then one final sentence.
"I'm sorry, son."
Silence followed.
No one spoke.
Across the city...
Evelyn's SUV sped toward the private airport.
Her phone vibrated.
One message.
THEY FOUND THE ESTATE.
She froze.
"Turn around."
The driver glanced into the mirror.
"Ma'am?"
"Turn around!"
"It's too late for that."
She looked ahead.
Two police cruisers appeared in the distance.
Their emergency lights flashed blue against the dark highway.
Evelyn's heartbeat accelerated.
"They found me."
The driver suddenly changed lanes.
Accelerating.
The police followed.
Sirens echoed through the night.
Inside the SUV...
Evelyn grabbed another phone hidden inside her handbag.
A phone no investigator knew existed.
She dialed one final number.
The call connected immediately.
"They know everything."
The voice answered calmly.
"No."
"They only know what your mistakes revealed."
Her breathing became uneven.
"I can't keep running."
"No."
The voice replied.
"You only need to survive until morning."
The call disconnected.
The chase lasted less than eight minutes.
Traffic boxed the SUV between two delivery trucks.
Police vehicles surrounded it.
Laura Bennett stepped from the lead cruiser.
"Evelyn Brooks!"
"Turn off the engine!"
"Step out with your hands visible!"
For several seconds...
Nothing happened.
Then...
The rear passenger door opened.
Evelyn stepped onto the pavement.
Elegant.
Perfectly dressed.
Completely composed.
As though she had expected this moment all along.
Laura approached cautiously.
"Evelyn Brooks..."
"You're under arrest for obstruction of justice, evidence tampering, and conspiracy to interfere with an active criminal investigation."
An officer placed handcuffs around her wrists.
Evelyn didn't resist.
She simply smiled.
Laura noticed.
"You don't seem worried."
Evelyn looked directly into her eyes.
"You think this ends tonight?"
Laura remained silent.
Evelyn leaned slightly closer.
"It hasn't even begun."
Back inside the hidden room beneath the Anderson estate...
Michael continued searching through the final cabinet.
Near the bottom...
He found one sealed envelope.
Across the front, in Richard's father's handwriting, were seven words.
Open only after Evelyn is arrested.
Michael slowly looked toward Richard.
"It's time."
Richard carefully broke the seal.
Inside...
There was only a single sheet of paper.
No explanation.
No evidence.
Only one handwritten name.
A name that made Richard's face lose all color.
Because it belonged to the one person he had trusted more than anyone after his father's death.
And if the letter was true...
Evelyn had never been the mastermind.
She had only been the weapon.
The real enemy...
May you like
Had been standing beside Richard all along.
End of Chapter 10
