Chapter 4 - The Place She Went
I left the boardroom without explaining myself.
Nathan followed.
“What happened?”
“Emily is missing.”
His face hardened.
“What do you mean?”
“She left my house.”
“Alone?”
“I don’t know.”
I called her.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
By the time we reached the elevator, my hands were shaking so badly I could barely press the button.
Nathan touched my arm.
“Linda, think.”
“I am thinking.”
“No. You’re panicking.”
I turned on him.
“My pregnant daughter disappeared after her husband threatened her.”
“And we are going to find her faster if we think.”
The elevator doors opened.
I stepped inside.
Then something hit me.
The hospital.
Not the one from the miscarriage.
Another place.
When Emily was seventeen, her father had suffered his first heart attack.
For three nights, she sat with me in the tiny chapel at St. Matthew’s Hospital because she said it was the only room where nobody expected her to be brave.
Whenever life became unbearable, she went somewhere quiet.
Somewhere familiar.
I called Claire.
“Check whether her coat is gone.”
A few seconds later, she answered.
“Yes.”
“Shoes?”
“The brown boots are missing.”
“Good.”
“What’s good about that?”
“She left voluntarily.”
Nathan was already ordering a car.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into St. Matthew’s.
I went straight to the chapel.
The door was partly open.
Emily sat in the last row.
Alone.
Her hands rested over her stomach.
I nearly collapsed from relief.
“Emily.”
She turned.
Her eyes were red.
“Mom.”
I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around her.
“What were you thinking?”
“I’m sorry.”
“You scared ten years off my life.”
“I needed to think.”
“You could think in my house.”
“No.”
She pulled away gently.
“Not with everybody watching me like I’m about to break.”
That stopped me.
Nathan remained by the door.
I sat beside her.
“Tell me what happened.”
Emily stared at the stained-glass window.
“Marcus called from another number.”
My anger returned immediately.
“When?”
“About an hour after you left.”
“What did he say?”
“He said if I didn’t meet him, he would send documents to the board proving I helped him.”
“Did you meet him?”
“No.”
I exhaled.
“He sent something instead?”
She nodded.
“A bank statement.”
“The one at the house?”
“Yes.”
“What account?”
Emily wiped her eyes.
“One I didn’t know existed.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“May I?”
She handed him several folded pages.
I recognized her name immediately.
Emily Carter Reed.
A brokerage account.
The balance was more than three hundred thousand dollars.
I looked at her.
“Is this yours?”
“No.”
Nathan studied the transactions.
“Money came from Redvale.”
Emily nodded.
“Marcus says that proves I was involved.”
“It proves money moved into an account bearing your name,” Nathan said. “That’s not the same thing.”
She looked at him desperately.
“But what if nobody believes me?”
“I believe you,” I said.
“That’s because you’re my mother.”
“Yes.”
I took her hand.
“And because I’ve known you for thirty-two years.”
She started crying again.
“I signed things, Mom.”
“I know.”
“What if one of those things opened this account?”
“Then we show how it happened.”
“What if I can’t?”
Nathan crouched in front of her.
“Emily, do you remember ever depositing money into this account?”
“No.”
“Taking money out?”
“No.”
“Receiving statements?”
“No.”
“Paying taxes on investment income from it?”
She blinked.
“No.”
“Then Marcus has a problem.”
She stared at him.
“Not you?”
“You have a difficult situation,” Nathan said carefully. “But people who secretly control money usually leave evidence of control.”
He pointed at the pages.
“Login records. Transfer instructions. linked devices. Tax filings. Correspondence. We follow those.”
Emily breathed a little easier.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She looked at me.
I nodded toward Nathan.
He quietly activated a recorder on his phone and placed it on the bench.
Emily answered.
“Hello?”
Marcus’s voice came through.
“You finally ready to talk?”
Emily closed her eyes.
“Where are you?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“You left that statement?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother needs to understand that if I go down, you go down.”
My nails dug into my palm.
Emily looked at Nathan.
He gestured for her to continue.
“I didn’t steal anything.”
Marcus laughed.
“You signed.”
“You lied about what I was signing.”
“Good luck proving that.”
Emily’s face changed.
Fear was slowly giving way to anger.
“You used forms from the hospital.”
Silence.
Just half a second.
But it was enough.
Then Marcus said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do.”
“You were medicated, Emily. Your memory is unreliable.”
I nearly snatched the phone from her hand.
Nathan stopped me with one look.
Emily continued.
“You told me those were insurance papers.”
“They were papers you signed voluntarily.”
“After I lost our baby.”
His answer came cold and immediate.
“Don’t make this emotional.”
Emily’s mouth fell open.
Something inside her broke.
But not the way Marcus expected.
She sat straighter.
“You forged my name.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You stole my signature.”
“You should stop talking.”
“Why?”
His breathing changed.
“Because I’m still your husband.”
Emily looked directly at me.
Then she said, “Not for much longer.”
Marcus went silent.
My daughter’s hand stopped shaking.
“You think your mother is going to save you?” he asked.
“No.”
She wiped a tear from her cheek.
“I think I’m finally going to save myself.”
Then she ended the call.
For several seconds, none of us spoke.
I reached for her hand.
She squeezed mine.
Nathan picked up his phone.
“That was useful.”
Emily gave a weak laugh.
“I’m glad my marriage can be useful to somebody.”
I felt the guilt immediately.
“Emily—”
“I didn’t mean you.”
She rested a hand on her stomach.
“I’m angry at myself.”
“No.”
“I let this happen.”
“No.”
“I defended him to everyone.”
“Because you loved him.”
“I ignored things.”
“So did I.”
She looked at me.
I forced myself not to look away.
“I saw how he interrupted you. I saw how you became quieter around him. And I accepted your answers because they were easier than asking harder questions.”
Her eyes softened.
“Mom.”
“I should have asked.”
“You couldn’t have forced me to tell you.”
“No.”
I squeezed her hand.
“But I could have made sure you knew I was ready to hear it.”
For the first time that morning, Emily leaned against me.
Then Nathan’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Nathan Cole.”
His face changed.
“When?”
He stood.
“Secure the records. Nobody touches the server.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
He ended the call.
“Someone tried to remotely delete files from Marcus’s department.”
“Marcus?”
“We don’t know.”
Emily whispered, “He’s destroying evidence.”
Nathan was already dialing.
Then another call came to my phone.
Helen.
I answered.
“What happened?”
Her voice was tight.
“Linda, you need to come back.”
“Why?”
“We found the second account receiving Redvale money.”
I looked at Emily.
“Whose name?”
Helen hesitated.
“It isn’t Marcus.”
“Then who?”
“You’re not going to like this.”
My stomach tightened.
“Helen.”
She finally answered.
“The account belongs to Daniel Price.”
Marcus’s friend.
The same man who had stood in my daughter’s living room the night before.
May you like
The first man who had quietly put down his wineglass and walked out.
And suddenly, I wondered whether Marcus had been the only person in that room pretending.
