His chest rose and fell.
"They knew."
Marcus nodded.
"They knew exactly where to look."
Jack turned.
"Which means someone told them."
Nobody spoke.
Twenty men stood in the room.
Jack looked at every face.
He hated what he was thinking.
One of them was a traitor.
Maybe more than one.
Emma suddenly spoke.
"Jack?"
He turned.
She was holding the cassette tape.
"It fell out."
Jack took it.
There was an old tape player in the office.
He inserted the cassette.
Static filled the room.
Then Daniel's voice appeared.
Older.
Tired.
Afraid.
"If you're hearing this, Jack, then I was right."
Jack closed his eyes.
Daniel continued.
"I don't know who betrayed us."
A pause.
"But I know why."
Paper rustled.
"Eleven years ago, I discovered that Thomas Vance wasn't stealing county money alone. He was using the Iron Vultures to move cash through businesses connected to the club."
Jack looked at Marcus.
Daniel continued.
"Someone inside the Vultures was helping him."
Static.
"I thought it was one of the newer members."
Another pause.
"I was wrong."
Jack's eyes opened.
Daniel's next words came slowly.
"It was someone I trusted."
The recording crackled.
Then Daniel said a name.
The room froze.
"Marcus."
Every eye turned toward him.
Marcus didn't move.
Jack stared.
"No."
Marcus looked devastated.
"Jack..."
"No."
"I can explain."
Jack stepped forward.
"You knew?"
Marcus shook his head.
"I never betrayed Daniel."
"His recording says otherwise."
"I never gave them anything."
Jack's fists tightened.
"Then why did he say your name?"
Marcus looked toward Emma.
Then toward the broken window.
Finally, he whispered,
"Because he thought I was dead."
Silence.
"What?"
Marcus swallowed.
"Daniel and I discovered the same thing."
He reached inside his jacket.
Pulled out an old photograph.
A photograph Jack had never seen.
It showed Daniel.
Marcus.
And another man.
The third man was standing in the shadows.
Jack took the picture.
His heart stopped.
The man was Thomas Vance.
Marcus pointed at him.
"Daniel wasn't talking about me."
"He was talking about the man beside me."
Jack stared.
"But why say your name?"
"Because Daniel knew someone was listening."
Marcus took a breath.
"He left clues."
Jack looked toward the tape player.
"Keep listening."
The recording continued.
Daniel's voice was quieter now.
"Marcus will understand this."
Jack looked at his friend.
Daniel continued.
"If they come for Emma, don't take her to the police."
Static.
"Don't take her home."
Another pause.
"Take her to the church on Route 17."
Jack frowned.
"Why?"
The tape continued.
"Father Elias knows where the records are."
Then Daniel said something that made Jack's blood run cold.
"And Jack..."
A long silence.
"If Emma comes to you, tell her I never stopped looking for her."
The tape ended.
Nobody spoke.
Emma stared at Jack.
"He knew about me."
Jack nodded.
"He did."
"Did he love me?"
Jack's throat tightened.
"More than anything."
Emma began crying.
Jack crouched in front of her.
"Your dad didn't abandon you."
She wiped her eyes.
"He promised?"
Jack nodded.
"I promise."
Then a voice came from the doorway.
"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."
Everyone turned.
Thomas Vance stood there.
Older now.
Gray hair.
Expensive coat.
Calm smile.
And behind him stood four armed men.
Thomas looked directly at Emma.
"Come with me, sweetheart."
Jack stepped in front of her.
Thomas smiled.
"Jack."
"Thomas."
"You should have stayed out of this."
Jack's eyes hardened.
"You should have stayed away from Daniel's daughter."
Thomas sighed.
"I was hoping she'd never find you."
Jack clenched his fists.
"Where is her mother?"
Thomas smiled.
"Safe."
Emma stepped forward.
Jack stopped her.
Thomas continued.
"At least for now."
Jack looked at the men.
Then at Thomas.
"What do you want?"
Thomas's smile disappeared.
"The same thing I've wanted for eleven years."
"The evidence."
Jack understood.
The documents.
The flash drive.
The truth.
Thomas wanted it buried forever.
Jack looked at Emma.
Then back at Thomas.
"You'll never get it."
Thomas smiled.
"Then I'll have to make you give it to me."
The Last Ride
They escaped through the basement.
Jack knew the clubhouse was compromised.
He knew Thomas would come after them.
But he also knew something Thomas didn't.
The evidence wasn't in the metal case.
Daniel had hidden the real evidence somewhere else.
The flash drive had been a decoy.
The real proof was still inside the clubhouse.
Jack remembered the letter.
Look behind the wall.
There had been another compartment.
He just hadn't noticed it.
A second panel.
Behind the old photograph of the Vultures' founding members.
They found it minutes before the clubhouse caught fire.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
Jack opened it.
Bank records.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Photographs.
And one final letter.
Daniel had written it only days before he disappeared.
Thomas Vance is not the end.
He's the middle.
The person controlling him is someone with authority far beyond this town.