Chapter 9 - Curtis Boone Calls Back
Curtis Boone called at 3:06 a.m.
Renata was awake.
She answered on the first ring.
“You have terrible timing.”
“So did Daniel.”
Renata sat upright.
“Don’t use my brother to keep me on the phone.”
“He used to say the same thing about you.”
Her anger stopped.
“You knew him.”
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Enough to owe him.”
“Then surrender.”
Boone laughed softly.
“I surrender, I disappear into a federal detention facility controlled by people working with Thomas Weller.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You found his access log.”
Renata went still.
That information had not left the investigation team.
“How do you know?”
“Because Weller told Keene about it.”
“Recently?”
“An hour ago.”
Boone was inside their information stream.
Or near someone who was.
Renata activated a trace signal on her second phone.
“What do you want?”
“To stay alive.”
“You’re wanted for threatening a protected witness.”
“I threatened him.”
“So that part is true.”
“He stole two million dollars from people who would kill me for believing I had it.”
“That explanation doesn’t help.”
“I’m not asking you to like me.”
“Good.”
“I’m asking you to understand the difference between guilty and guilty of everything.”
Renata knew the distinction better than most.
“What did Daniel find?”
“A pipeline.”
“For stolen evidence?”
“Evidence. Guns. cash. seized narcotics. Information.”
“Where did the money go?”
“To cops. Contractors. Politicians. And one federal official who made problems disappear.”
“Weller.”
“Yes.”
“What did Daniel have?”
“A ledger.”
“Where is it?”
“If I knew, Keene would have it.”
“You said Daniel saved your life.”
“He did.”
“How?”
Boone was silent.
Then:
“I worked security for Hollow Ridge before I became one of the people it was used against.”
Renata frowned.
“You were part of the scheme.”
“At the bottom.”
“What did you do?”
“Moved boxes. Delivered envelopes. Scared people.”
“Property owners?”
“Yes.”
Renata thought of Lillian.
“Did you threaten my mother?”
“No.”
“Did you know who did?”
“Yes.”
“Name.”
“Keene gave the order. Rock delivered one letter.”
Renata’s jaw tightened.
“Daniel caught me at parcel six one night.”
“What happened?”
“I pulled a gun on him.”
Her grip tightened.
“He talked me into lowering it.”
“What did he say?”
“That Keene would bury me the same way he buried everyone else.”
“And you believed him?”
“Not until Keene ordered me to move a federal evidence crate with Weller’s initials on the release form.”
Renata said nothing.
“I started copying records. Daniel was already doing the same. We agreed if one of us got caught, the other would keep a copy.”
“And after Daniel died?”
“I ran.”
“For twelve years?”
“I kept running in different directions.”
“You also committed crimes.”
“Yes.”
No excuses.
Renata respected the answer without respecting the man.
“What happened to Daniel’s ledger?”
“He said he hid the full copy where ‘Callaways keep promises.’”
Renata frowned.
“That mean something to you?”
“No.”
“Think harder.”
The trace reached eighty percent.
Boone continued.
“Weller and Keene are trying to close the corridor now. Your mother’s land is the final piece.”
“Why after twelve years?”
“Because they have something bigger to move.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are you suddenly helping?”
“Because Shepherd wants me dead.”
Renata lowered her voice.
“Weller is Shepherd?”
“Yes.”
Trace: ninety-four percent.
“Where are you?”
“You’ll know when I decide you can.”
“Curtis.”
Trace complete.
Location appeared.
Old industrial district east of Millbrook.
Renata signaled Isaac.
Boone said, “One more thing.”
“What?”
“Your brother trusted Officer Rock once.”
Renata’s expression hardened.
“That was his mistake.”
“No.”
Boone’s voice became strangely sad.
“His mistake was trusting someone closer to your family.”
The line disconnected.
Renata stared at the dead phone.
Isaac entered fully dressed.
“We have the location.”
“Team ready?”
“Two minutes.”
Renata grabbed her jacket.
As they moved toward the door, Boone’s last words stayed with her.
Someone closer to your family.
There were not many possibilities.
Her mother.
Her late father.
A family attorney.
Or someone Daniel had trusted because Renata trusted him.
Isaac stopped in the hallway.
“What?”
Renata studied him.
“Nothing.”
But for the first time since the roadside arrest, Claire Morgan’s question returned.
You trust him?
Renata walked past Isaac.
May you like
![92 The Girl They Called Broke Was a Billionaire’s Daughter—But Her Father’s Arrival Exposed a Secret Powerful People Had Buried for Years]](https://cdn.treeiq.biz/site_590/2026/11/clone-0-0915d882-53d7-4d17-b43a-a010ca1a1068.webp)
“With my life,” she had answered.
Now she wondered whether Curtis Boone knew exactly how dangerous those words could become.
