Chapter 12 - THE MAN WHO FINALLY CONFESSED
Donovan was arrested three weeks later.
Investigators connected him to financial fraud, intimidation, and the attempted abduction of Paige.
Arthur Bell was questioned about the missing notebook.
He eventually admitted passing it to Donovan.
The notebook was recovered during a search of one of Donovan's properties.
Its contents helped investigators trace the fraudulent shipping contracts.
But Elias Mercer remained missing.
Then, unexpectedly, a new witness came forward.
A former employee of Donovan's trucking company.
He told investigators that Mercer had been held at a remote storage facility for several days after disappearing.
He had escaped.
But he'd been afraid to contact authorities because he believed Donovan had people watching him.
Investigators located Mercer in another state.
He was alive.
Injured.
But willing to testify.
The news stunned Paige.
She sat at her kitchen table when Roman called.
"They found him."
She froze.
"Elias?"
"Yes."
"Alive?"
"Alive."
Paige covered her mouth.
Tears filled her eyes.
"Oh, thank God."
Roman exhaled.
"He's safe."
She began crying.
For weeks, she'd feared the worst.
Now the man whose notebook she'd found was alive.
And the truth was finally emerging.
The investigation into the old car bombing also uncovered evidence linking Donovan's associates to preparations around the warehouse.
The case remained complicated.
But Roman no longer believed the explosion had been the work of an outside rival alone.
Someone inside the organization had helped make it possible.
Roman sat alone that evening.
He looked at photographs of his father and brothers.
For years, he'd carried anger like a weapon.
Now he realized that revenge had kept him tied to the very world that destroyed them.
He picked up his phone.
Called his attorney.
May you like
And said:
"I'm ready to get out."
