Chapter 5 - The Wrong Truth
"Delivered him to who?" Ellie demanded, her voice cracking with pure anguish.
Jude didn't answer immediately. He walked over to the safe behind the oil painting on the wall, tapped in a combination, and pulled out a blue leather binder.
"Sit down, Ellie," Jude commanded softly.
Ellie refused to move. "My husband is gone! You told me he was alive, and now Reggie says he’s in the river!"
"Reggie lies when he’s cornered," Jude said, opening the binder on his desk. "Julian was an accountant for my shipping lines. Six months ago, he found an unregistered shipment coming into Pier 4. Weapons and unregistered bonds. It didn't belong to me."
Jude slid a document across the desk toward her.
Ellie looked down. It was a transfer receipt signed by Julian, authorizing a handover of cargo to a company named Vanguard Imports.
"Julian realized Reggie was using my name to move illegal cargo for an outside buyer," Jude explained. "Julian came to me with this paper. He was terrified. He said someone threatened his family—you and Brinley."
Ellie felt the room spinning. "Julian was trying to protect us?"
"I told him to take a passport and go to a safehouse in Boston while I cleared out Reggie’s network," Jude said, his voice laced with heavy regret. "The night he disappeared, he was supposed to meet my driver. He never made it."
"So Reggie caught him," Ellie whispered, tears overflowing.
"That's what I believed for six months," Jude said. "Until tonight."
Jude turned the paper over. On the back was a scrawled handwriting—Julian’s handwriting.
If I don't make it to Boston, check the vault at Saint Mary's.
Ellie gasped. "Saint Mary’s? That’s the old church in down town Providence!"
"Julian left something there," Jude said, closing the binder. "A fail-safe."
Ellie wiped her tears, hope suddenly flaring up in her chest. "He might still be alive. If he made it to the church—"
"Ellie, don't build false hope," Jude warned sternly. "Reggie is working for someone powerful. Someone who wanted me framed and your husband erased."
Suddenly, the estate’s security alarms began to blare. Red emergency lights flashed along the dark corridors.
Downstairs, the sound of glass shattering echoed through the mansion.
Jude instantly drew his gun from his holster. "Stay behind me."
Ellie’s heart slammed against her ribs. "Brinley! She’s in our room!"
Before Jude could respond, the heavy study doors were kicked open.
Standing in the doorway was Clara, the housekeeper. But she wasn't holding cleaning supplies.
May you like
She held a sleek black silenced pistol, aimed straight at Jude’s heart.
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