Chapter 8
Evelyn lowered the phone.
“No.”
Caleb already understood.
“He wants the original ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The book that proves where all the money came from.”
Grant stepped closer.
“Do you have it?”
Caleb nodded.
Helen stared at him.
“After everything, you still kept secrets?”
“I kept it because it was the only thing keeping me alive.”
“Where is it?”
Caleb looked at Evelyn.
“Safe.”
Evelyn grabbed his jacket.
“My sister is missing because of this!”
“I know.”
“Then give him what he wants!”
“And then he kills Marissa anyway.”
Evelyn released him.
She hated that Caleb was probably right.
Grant contacted state investigators.
Thomas Reed’s name changed everything.
This was no longer a local case.
Financial crimes investigators began pulling records.
Police started searching properties connected to Thomas.
Evelyn waited.
Every minute felt unbearable.
Then another message arrived.
A photograph of Marissa sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Terrified.
No visible injuries.
Beside her was a newspaper showing that morning’s date.
Below the picture:
MIDNIGHT.
CAIN FARM.
CALEB AND THE LEDGER.
NO POLICE.
Caleb stared.
“Cain Farm is abandoned.”
Grant shook her head.
“You’re not going.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“He has my sister.”
“We’ll handle it.”
“And if he sees police?”
“He may hurt her.”
“So what do you expect me to do?”
Grant remained calm.
“Trust us.”
Evelyn looked away.
Trust.
Nathan had trusted the wrong people.
Marissa had trusted Mercer.
Helen had trusted Cole.
Evelyn had trusted her father.
She didn’t know what the word meant anymore.
At eleven thirty, Caleb brought out the ledger.
He had hidden it inside the lining of Nathan’s old truck seat.
Thomas had searched Helen’s garage but missed it.
The book contained years of payments.
Judges.
Contractors.
Company executives.
One police captain.
Grant stared at the name.
Captain Warren Blake.
“He was the officer who received Nathan’s first report.”
Marissa had been right.
Grant immediately contacted state police.
Blake was arrested leaving his home.
Then Caleb pointed to another entry.
Cole Daniels.
Multiple payments.
The last payment was dated the day Nathan died.
Evelyn nearly tore the page.
At 11:50, she, Caleb, and police headed toward Cain Farm.
Officers stayed out of sight.
Evelyn wore a hidden microphone.
Caleb carried the ledger.
The barn door stood open.
Thomas waited inside.
Mercer stood beside him.
Marissa sat several feet away.
When she saw Evelyn, she began crying.
“Evie.”
Evelyn moved toward her.
Mercer raised a hand.
“Stop.”
Caleb held up the ledger.
“Let her go.”
Thomas looked older than Evelyn remembered.
Not frightened.
Just tired.
“You were always stubborn,” he told Caleb.
“You destroyed my family.”
“I built your family’s wealth.”
“You tried to kill me.”
“I told Cole to scare you.”
Caleb laughed.
“He left me for dead.”
Thomas looked at Mercer.
“That was not my instruction.”
Mercer’s expression tightened.
Evelyn realized something.
Thomas controlled the money.
But Mercer had made his own decisions.
“Dad,” she said, “did you order Nathan’s death?”
Thomas looked at her.
“No.”
“Did you know Mercer planned it?”
“No.”
Mercer turned toward him.
“Careful.”
Thomas ignored him.
“I wanted Nathan frightened. Nothing more.”
Marissa shouted, “He’s telling the truth!”
Mercer slapped his hand against the chair beside her.
“Quiet!”
Evelyn’s hidden microphone transmitted everything.
Thomas stepped toward Mercer.
“You told me Nathan died naturally.”
“He was destroying everything!”
“You killed my son-in-law without permission?”
Mercer laughed.
“Permission?”
For the first time, his calm mask broke.
“You think you controlled me?”
Caleb slowly moved toward Marissa.
Mercer noticed.
He reached into his coat.
Thomas grabbed his arm.
They struggled.
Evelyn ran to Marissa.
Police flooded the barn.
“Drop it!”
Mercer froze.
His hand emerged holding a handgun.
Officers surrounded him.
Thomas immediately stepped away.
Mercer looked from one officer to another.
Then at Evelyn.
“This family ruined itself long before I arrived.”
He dropped the weapon.
Police arrested him.
Thomas did not run.
He held his hands out.
As officers cuffed him, Evelyn stared at her father.
“You could have stopped all of this.”
Thomas looked at her with tears in his eyes.
“I thought money could fix every mistake.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“It created them.”
Marissa wrapped her arms around her.
Evelyn held her sister.
May you like
But when she looked toward Caleb, he was staring at the ledger.
One page had been torn out.
