[CHAPTER 5]
I listened to Laura’s voicemail three times.
Each time, the same chill moved through me.
“My name is Laura.”
The woman the family had erased.
The woman everyone believed had disappeared almost thirty years ago.
The woman Evelyn had accused exactly the way she accused me.
The message continued.
“I don’t know how much you’ve learned, but I saw a clip of Evelyn being taken from the house tonight. Someone in the family still sends me information.”
Melissa stared at my phone.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Laura continued.
“If you recorded Evelyn discussing money, do not give the only copy to anyone in that family.”
Melissa flinched beside me.
“I’m sorry,” Laura said. “I know how that sounds. But I trusted them once too.”
The voicemail ended with a number.
“Call me from a safe phone.”
Melissa looked at me.
“You think it’s really her?”
“I don’t know.”
“We should tell Detective Mills.”
“Absolutely.”
I forwarded the voicemail immediately.
Mills called back within minutes.
“Don’t contact her yet.”
“Why?”
“We need to verify identity.”
Melissa paced across the room.
“What if she knows where Victor is?”
Mills paused.
“That’s one reason we’re interested.”
I barely slept.
Every noise in the hallway sounded like footsteps outside the door.
Every elevator bell made me sit up.
At six in the morning, Daniel called.
I ignored it.
At six-ten, he called again.
Then he texted.
I DESERVE THAT.
I stared at the message.
A second one followed.
DAD FOUND MORE TRANSFERS.
Then:
PLEASE JUST TELL ME YOU’RE SAFE.
I didn’t answer.
Melissa handed me coffee.
“You don’t have to protect his feelings.”
“I know.”
“He loves you.”
I looked at her.
“That isn’t enough.”
She lowered her eyes.
“No.”
For once, one of Daniel’s relatives didn’t argue with me.
At eight, Detective Mills arrived with another detective.
They had verified Laura’s identity.
She was alive.
Living in Oregon under her maiden name.
She had contacted police years ago.
Nothing came of it.
“Why?” I asked.
“Insufficient evidence.”
“What did she accuse Evelyn of?”
Mills looked at her notes.
“Financial fraud, forged signatures, theft from a family-owned construction company.”
Robert’s family business.
My stomach tightened.
“Was Victor involved?”
“We don’t know yet. His name wasn’t in Laura’s original report.”
Melissa frowned.
“He was Dad’s adviser back then.”
That changed everything.
Mills noticed too.
“You’re certain?”
“Yes. Victor handled tax planning for Grandpa’s company before Dad took over.”
I looked at her.
“Then he could have been involved for thirty years.”
Nobody said anything.
Detective Mills handed me a printed photograph.
A younger Evelyn stood beside Robert at a company holiday party.
Victor was behind them.
And beside Victor stood another man.
Michael.
Robert’s dead brother.
I stared at the picture.
Something bothered me.
Then I realized.
Victor and Michael looked angry with each other.
Not smiling.
Not posing.
Caught in the background of someone else’s photograph.
Mills said Laura believed Michael had discovered missing money shortly before his death.
I looked up sharply.
“His boating accident.”
Melissa went pale.
“No.”
Mills raised a hand.
“We are not saying his death was anything other than an accident.”
“But?”
“But Laura told police Michael had planned to confront someone about the missing money.”
I felt suddenly nauseated.
“Who?”
“She didn’t know.”
Melissa sat down.
“My whole childhood…”
Her voice cracked.
“We were told Uncle Michael died because he drank too much and went out on the water alone.”
Mills nodded.
“That was the official conclusion.”
I asked the question no one wanted to hear.
“Was he alone?”
Mills looked at me.
“The original report says yes.”
“But?”
“A dock worker gave a statement saying he thought he saw another person near Michael’s boat earlier that evening.”
Melissa covered her mouth.
“Why was that ignored?”
“The witness was uncertain. There was no physical evidence.”
My phone buzzed.
Daniel again.
This time I answered.
“What?”
He sounded exhausted.
“Thank God.”
“What happened?”
“Dad’s office safe is empty.”
I stood.
“What was inside?”
“Original trust documents. Company records. Some old ledgers Grandpa kept.”
Melissa heard him.
“What kind of old ledgers?”
“From the nineties.”
We looked at Detective Mills.
She immediately reached for her phone.
Daniel continued.
“Mom knew the combination.”
“Who else?”
“Dad. Me. Melissa.”
Melissa looked offended.
“I haven’t touched that safe in years.”
Daniel sighed.
“I know.”
I asked, “When was it last opened?”
“Dad says last week.”
“Before the recording?”
“Yes.”
“Were the ledgers there?”
“He thinks so.”
Mills motioned for me to keep Daniel talking.
“Daniel, where are you now?”
“At Dad’s.”
“Don’t touch anything else.”
“Police are already here.”
Then his voice changed.
“Listen, there’s something else.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“They found an envelope taped underneath Mom’s dresser.”
“An envelope?”
“It has your name on it.”
I stopped breathing.
“What’s inside?”
“Photographs.”
“Of what?”
Daniel was silent too long.
“Daniel.”
“Of you.”
My skin went cold.
“Where?”
“Outside your office. At the grocery store. At a restaurant with Melissa. Outside our house.”
I looked at Melissa.
She went white.
Daniel continued.
“Some are dated more than a year ago.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
Evelyn had been watching me.
Tracking me.
Long before I heard the conversation in the guest room.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
But I did.
Or at least I knew enough.
Evelyn hadn’t framed me because I accidentally overheard her.
She had chosen me as a target much earlier.
Detective Mills took the phone.
“Daniel, listen carefully. Do any of the photographs show who took them?”
“No.”
“Any notes?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
“What do they say?”
Daniel swallowed audibly.
“On the back of one picture, Mom wrote…”
He stopped.
“Read it.”
May you like
His voice was barely a whisper.
“She notices too much.”
