Chapter 6: The Shadow Ledger
Chapter 6: The Shadow Ledger
“We need to leave,” my father said, his voice hard. “Now.”
He started throwing files into a duffel bag. “No,”
I said, my voice eerily calm. I stared at the silver ink. It felt like a taunt.
A promise. Claire walked over, her eyes tracing the letters. Her hands trembled slightly, but her voice was steady. “It’s not just a threat, Evelyn.
It’s a distraction.” I looked at her. “What do you mean?” “Before I ran away, before Preston cornered me that night… I heard him arguing with his mother.
He was panicked. He said the ‘Shadow Ledger’ was exposed.” My father froze.
He dropped the bag. “The what?” he asked. “The real source of their power,”
Claire whispered. “Preston’s crimes were violent, but Helena’s are systemic.
She has a list. Every politician she bought. Every judge she blackmailed.
Every life she ruined.” Helena hadn’t lost everything. She had let Preston take the fall to protect the ledger.
To protect herself. If she still had it, she could buy a new judge. A new police captain.
She could overturn Preston’s conviction in a year.
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“Where is it?” I asked, my heart pounding against my ribs. Claire looked down at the floor, a haunted look in her eyes.
“I don’t know. Preston was the only one she trusted enough to hide it.” I looked at the black envelope again. The scar near my lip seemed to burn. “Then I guess I have to go ask him.”
