Chapter 7 - THE RED LEATHER BOOK
The rain had stopped, but the cold was biting deep into my bones.
The red ledger—the key to the entire Chicago underworld, the only thing keeping my family alive—was locked inside the very shipping container we were trying to find.
Marcus didn't know he already had it. And if he searched the container and found it before Richard arrived, we would lose all our leverage.
“We have to bluff,” Richard said, pacing in front of the headlights. “I’ll take an empty bag. I’ll demand to see them first. When he opens the container, Thomas and I will take his men down.”
“That’s suicide,” Thomas argued, shaking his head. “Marcus won’t open the doors until he verifies the ledger. He’s not an amateur.”
I stood perfectly still, staring at the wet concrete.
My mind was racing back to the lake house. The destroyed living room. The broken lamp. The shattered coffee table.
And something else.
“The diaper bag,” I whispered.
Richard stopped pacing. “What?”
“When I ran into the house,” I said, my voice gaining strength. “I saw Sarah’s diaper bag. It was kicked under the hallway table. The zipper was broken, but it was still there.”
Richard’s eyes widened. “Marcus’s men didn’t take it.”
“They grabbed Sarah and Mia and ran,” I said. “They left the luggage behind.”
“Which means the ledger is still at the lake house,” Thomas realized.
Richard checked his watch. “We don’t have time to drive all the way back to the lake house and make it to the steel mill in one hour.”
He was right. The lake house was forty minutes away. The steel mill was in the opposite direction.
“I’ll go to the lake house,” Thomas said immediately. “I’ll get the ledger and bring it to you at the mill.”
“No,” Richard said, shaking his head. “Marcus knows you’re dead. If you show up, he’ll panic and start shooting. He expects me to come alone.”
I looked at my husband. I looked at the man who had lied to me, cheated on me, and built an empire of blood. But in that moment, he was just a father trying to save his child.
“You go to the steel mill,” I told Richard. “Stall him. Tell him you buried the ledger nearby and need time to dig it up. I will go to the lake house with Thomas, get the book, and bring it to you.”
Richard looked at me, terrified. “Ellie, I can’t let you walk into a warehouse full of armed men.”
“You don’t have a choice,” I said firmly, walking toward the pickup truck. “I am bringing my daughter home.”
Richard didn’t argue. He walked over to me, took my face in his large hands, and pressed his forehead against mine. He was trembling.
“If we get out of this,” Richard whispered, his voice cracking, “I will spend the rest of my life making this right. I swear to you, Eleanor.”
I didn’t say I forgave him. I didn’t say I loved him.
I just looked into his eyes and said, “Save our granddaughter.”
Forty-five minutes later, Thomas and I tore up the gravel driveway of the lake house.
The house was still dark and silent.
We ran inside. I didn't bother turning on the lights; I used the flashlight on my phone. I rushed to the hallway table.
The floral diaper bag was shoved against the baseboard, exactly where I remembered it.
I dropped to my knees, frantically digging through diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes.
My fingers brushed against heavy leather.
I pulled it out.
It was a thick, red leather bound book.
“I got it!” I shouted to Thomas, who was standing watch at the door.
I stood up, clutching the book to my chest.
But as the beam of my flashlight swept across the living room wall, it illuminated a framed photograph hanging near the fireplace.
It was a picture of Richard and Marcus, taken five years ago at a charity gala. They were smiling, holding glasses of scotch.
I stopped. I stared at the photo.
Something Camille had said at the pier was echoing in my mind.
“He told me to seduce Richard. To make him fall in love with me. And tonight, he told me to keep you both at the restaurant...”
Why did Marcus need Richard distracted at the restaurant tonight?
Marcus had his own men. He could have taken Sarah and Mia at any point over the last three days. Why orchestrate the dramatic breakup exactly when the kidnapping was happening?
Unless...
Unless Marcus didn't want Richard out of the way.
Unless Marcus wanted Richard exactly where he was.
I opened the red leather ledger.
The pages weren't filled with bank accounts or blackmail files.
The pages were completely, entirely blank.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
“Thomas,” I whispered, panic rising in my throat.
“What is it?” Thomas asked, walking over.
I held up the blank book.
May you like
“Marcus doesn’t want the ledger,” I realized, the horrifying truth crashing down on me. “He never wanted the ledger. He wanted Richard to think he had to trade the ledger to save the girls.”
“Thomas... Marcus doesn’t have Sarah and Mia at the steel mill. He set a trap to execute Richard.”
