Chapter 21 - A Sealed Envelope Arrives With An Impossible Message
Late on a stormy Friday night, two years after the trial, Claire sat in her penthouse study reviewing international shipping manifests.
Lightning flickered across the dark Chicago skyline, bringing a heavy downpour that rattled against the double-paned glass windows.
Her private secretary walked into the room, placing a thick, wax-sealed manila envelope onto her polished mahogany desk.
“Ms. Vance, this package was delivered by hand to the ground floor security desk five minutes ago,” the secretary reported softly.
“Who delivered it?” Claire asked, frowning as she noticed there was no return address or courier label on the thick paper.
“A young boy who said a man in a dark trench coat gave him a hundred dollars to hand it to our night guard,” she replied.
Claire picked up a silver letter opener, breaking the heavy red wax seal and pulling out a stack of old black-and-white photos.
The photographs showed her father, Arthur Vance, standing beside Grant Whitmore’s late father outside a secret military facility in 1982.
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Attached to the back of the photographs was a handwritten note in dark ink: Arthur didn't destroy Grant to protect you, Claire... he destroyed him to keep Grant from discovering what our fathers buried beneath the Highland Park mansion.
Claire’s breath hitched in her throat as her eyes widened in utter shock, her hand trembling as a sudden knock echoed at her door.
