Scott pointed over his shoulder. “Inside. A single box. Looks pretty innocuous.”

Scott Sherwood unlocked the door to the BCI headquarters and held it open for Walt to enter.

“Does this mean the invitation to visit you in Jamaica is rescinded?”

“It means it never existed, Scott.”

* * *

Two hours later, Walt was sitting in his suite at the Hyatt with a second evidence box resting on the table in front of him. He paged through it for fifteen minutes, reading carefully until he found what he needed. Until he found what he hoped wasn’t there.

He picked up his phone. Avery hadn’t attempted to reach out to him. He typed a short text and sent it off to her.

Found something new in the Cameron Young file. Need to talk asap.

CHAPTER 43 - Manhattan, NY Sunday, July 4, 2021

CHAPTER 43

Manhattan, NY Sunday, July 4, 2021

AVERY’S LAPTOP SAT OPEN ON THE DESK IN THE CORNER OF HER HOTEL room. The face of American Events executive producer and Avery’s best friend, Christine Swanson, was on the screen linked through an online meeting app.

“What’s going on?” Christine asked.

“You’re going to think I’m crazy, but you’re the only one I can share this with.”

Avery watched Christine on the monitor as she analyzed Avery’s hotel room. After her meeting with Livia Cutty, Avery had found a copy shop where she had each of Victoria Ford’s manuscripts printed. Now, organized stacks of computer paper occupied the king-sized bed. On top of each stack rested a single paperback book.

“I told you about Victoria Ford’s sister, Emma.”

“Right,” Christine said. “She had the recording of Victoria from the morning of 9/11. I can’t wait to get my hands on it. We could do a lot of great stuff with it.”

Throughout her time in New York, Avery had kept Christine up to date on her discoveries regarding Victoria Ford and Cameron Young. Great stuff meant Christine and her team would produce the hell out of the recordings, making them both chilling and suspenseful. Avery imagined a short clip of Victoria Ford’s voice playing just before a commercial break, anchoring fifteen million viewers to their televisions in stunned silence.

“I know you’ll make it amazing,” Avery said. “But in addition to the recordings, Emma Kind also shared all this with me. Well, accidentally shared it.” She motioned to the stacks of paper.

“What is all that?” Christine asked, leaning toward the computer camera so her face filled the entire screen.

“Victoria Ford’s manuscripts.”

“Meaning books?”

“Yes. Victoria was a writer.”

“My notes say she was a financial planner.”