Chapter 86: A Call from Victor Shaw

Victor Shaw called Louis at 2:17 the next morning.

Louis woke on the first vibration and answered before the call could disappear. 'Victor.'

There was silence, followed by the sound of traffic. Victor's voice came low and strained. 'Don't trace this number.'

'Then don't call me from it.'

Victor gave a humorless laugh. 'Still arrogant.'

Louis was already signaling Derek through a second phone. Freya, awakened by movement in the hallway, stepped out of her room and saw his expression.

Victor continued, 'If you're investigating Greyline, stop treating Daniel Mercer like the person in charge.'

'Who is?'

'I can't tell you over the phone.'

'You disappeared after we started asking questions. Give me a reason not to assume guilt.'

Victor was silent for several seconds. 'Because if I wanted Stone Holdings destroyed, I wouldn't have spent years trying to keep the damage contained.'

Louis's gaze hardened. 'Contained? I lost the company.'

'You kept your freedom. Your grandfather wasn't guaranteed the same.'

Freya froze at that sentence.

Louis stood. 'What does that mean?'

'Charles discovered too much. David did too.'

David was Freya's father.

She moved closer to the phone.

Victor apparently heard something. 'Is Freya there?'

Louis didn't answer.

'Good. She needs to hear this eventually. Her parents' accident was investigated too quickly.'

Freya's face drained of color.

Louis's voice became dangerously calm. 'Are you saying their deaths weren't accidental?'

'I'm saying I never proved they were.'

That distinction mattered, but it did little to ease the shock.

Victor told Louis he had preserved records Charles Stone never saw. He would exchange them only in person and only if Louis came without police, private investigators, or Ethan Hale.

'Why should I trust you?' Louis asked.

'You shouldn't. But you should trust Charles's judgment. Find the blue ledger in Eleanor's records. Page forty-three. Then decide whether to meet me.'

The call ended.

Derek immediately began tracing the number despite Victor's warning. It was a prepaid device bouncing through several towers, unlikely to produce a useful location.

Freya stood completely still.

Louis put the phone down and approached her. 'He didn't say your parents were murdered.'

'I heard him.'

'We verify first.'

Freya nodded, but her hands were cold.

Eleanor answered Louis's call despite the hour. When he asked about a blue ledger, she became silent.

'I have it,' she finally said.

'What's on page forty-three?'

'Come in the morning.'

Louis looked at Freya.

Neither of them would be sleeping again that night.

Freya made coffee even though neither of them needed more caffeine. Doing something ordinary helped. She kept remembering Victor saying David's name as if her father had been a participant in a story still unfolding rather than a man dead for years. Louis took the mug from her and stayed nearby without filling the silence with empty reassurance.

Derek warned them not to contact anyone else connected to the old investigation until they understood why Victor had suddenly reached out. If someone had forced him into hiding, every call could reveal another target. Eleanor agreed. Her unusually tense voice convinced Freya that page forty-three contained something she had feared for a long time.