Chapter 8 - THE SECRET BURIED WITH HIS FATHER
For thirty-two years, Julien had believed his father died of a heart attack.
Henri Moreau had collapsed during a business trip to London.
He was sixty-one.
The doctors had attributed his death to cardiovascular disease.
The family had buried him beneath a white marble headstone overlooking the sea.
Julien had mourned him.
Antoine had resented him.
Margaret had rarely spoken about him.
Now Julien was holding a document suggesting that Henri had been involved in a dangerous dispute with Charles Whitcomb shortly before his death.
The document itself was not proof of murder.
But it was proof that the two men had known each other.
And that Henri had been investigating Whitcomb's business practices.
Julien looked at Reeves.
“Where did you find this?”
“In archived corporate records.”
“Why wasn't it in our files?”
“It was stored under a subsidiary that dissolved years ago.”
Julien studied the handwritten note.
The words were unmistakably his father's.
If anything happens to me, examine the Whitcomb transactions.
Sophie leaned forward.
“Dad, do you think Grandpa was murdered?”
Julien looked at her.
“I don't know.”
Reeves nodded.
“And we won't assume that without evidence.”
But Julien felt something shift inside him.
His father's death had been one of the defining events of his life.
At twenty-eight, Julien had inherited responsibility for a struggling family business.
He had spent the next three decades rebuilding it.
He had believed his father left him a company.
Perhaps he had also left him a warning.
### The family archive
The following morning, investigators accompanied Julien to a secure storage facility containing decades of Moreau family records.
Inside were boxes of correspondence, old contracts, photographs, and handwritten journals.
Julien found his father's leather briefcase near the back of a cabinet.
He had not opened it in years.
Inside were several folders.
One contained letters from Whitcomb.
Another held financial statements.
The third contained a small notebook.
Julien opened it.
His father's handwriting filled the pages.
Whitcomb offered to purchase the terminals. I refused.
Antoine believes the offer should be considered.
Julien sees the long-term value. He understands what we're building.
Julien paused.
Antoine had been involved?
He turned the page.
I worry about my younger son. He mistakes admiration for loyalty. Whitcomb knows this.
Julien's throat tightened.
The next entry was dated two weeks before Henri's death.
If I cannot stop Whitcomb, Julien must protect the company. But he must also protect Antoine from himself.
Julien closed the notebook.
For several minutes, he could not speak.
His father had seen the same pattern decades earlier.
Antoine's hunger for approval.
Whitcomb's manipulation.
The danger of confusing ambition with worth.
Sophie touched his shoulder.
“Dad?”
Julien looked at her.
“I spent my life believing Father trusted me more because I was stronger.”
He shook his head.
“Maybe he trusted me because he knew Antoine needed someone to protect him.”
Sophie sat beside him.
“You did protect him.”
“Not enough.”
“Dad, you can't take responsibility for every choice Uncle Antoine made.”
Julien looked at the notebook.
“I know.”
But knowing something and accepting it were different.
### The first confrontation
That afternoon, Antoine was brought to a federal interview room after agreeing to speak with investigators.
Julien watched through a secure video connection.
Reeves sat across from Antoine.
The younger Moreau brother looked exhausted.
His expensive suit was wrinkled.
His eyes were red.
“Your brother is alive,” Reeves said.
Antoine stared at him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That's impossible.”
Reeves placed a photograph on the table.
Julien, alive, sitting beside Sophie.
Antoine's face collapsed.
For a moment, Julien expected relief.
Instead, Antoine began crying.
Not softly.
Not discreetly.
He bent forward, covering his face with both hands.
Reeves waited.
Finally, Antoine whispered, “I didn't want him dead.”
Reeves remained calm.
“Then why were you waiting for his body?”
Antoine looked up.
“Because Victor said there was no other way.”
“Did you arrange the insurance policy?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Julien would be taken onto the yacht?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Victor intended to kill him?”
Antoine hesitated.
Then nodded.
Julien closed his eyes.
There it was.
The truth.
His brother had known.
Reeves continued.
“Who introduced Victor to Whitcomb?”
Antoine looked away.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Whitcomb promised to make me CEO.”
“And in return?”
Antoine's voice trembled.
“I was supposed to help him acquire the maritime division.”
“By murdering your brother?”
“No!”
Antoine slammed his hands against the table.
“That wasn't the original plan!”
“Then what changed?”
Antoine stared at the photograph.
“Julien found the transfers.”
Reeves leaned forward.
“And?”
“Whitcomb said Julien would destroy us.”
“So you agreed to have him killed.”
Antoine began crying again.
“I thought I could stop it.”
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
Julien turned away from the screen.
For the first time, he felt something other than anger.
Grief.
Not for the brother he had lost to death.
For the brother he had lost to his own choices.
Then Reeves asked one final question.
“Antoine, what happened to Olivia Grant?”
Antoine went completely still.
His face drained.
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because if I do, he'll kill my son.”
Reeves leaned forward.
“Who?”
May you like
Antoine whispered:
“Whitcomb has Ethan.”
