Chapter 4
My father refused to speak to police after Harris asked about Victor.
That told me more than a confession would have.
The next morning, Emily and I met Detective Harris in a private conference room at the hospital.
Margaret joined us.
Harris placed a photograph on the table.
“This was taken yesterday.”
Victor Carter was sixty-one.
He looked like an older, harder version of my father.
“Where?”
“Outside your house.”
Emily stiffened.
“The picture someone sent me?”
“Probably taken minutes before this security image.”
I stared at Victor’s face.
“Why does Dad send him money?”
“We traced recurring payments through three companies,” Harris said. “More than four million dollars over twenty-six years.”
Margaret looked shocked.
“That much?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
She stared at the photograph.
“Your grandfather would have destroyed Robert if he knew.”
Robert.
My father.
For the first time, I started thinking of him by his name instead of Dad.
Harris slid another document toward me.
“This is where things get complicated.”
It was a copy of Grandpa’s original will.
Victor had been included.
Then his name had been crossed out in a later amendment.
“What happened twenty-seven years ago?”
Margaret answered.
“Victor tried to forge your grandfather’s signature and transfer company shares.”
Exactly what Chloe had tried to do to Emily.
I felt sick.
“This has happened before.”
“Yes,” Margaret said.
“And Keller was involved?”
She hesitated.
“He was a junior attorney then.”
Of course he was.
The same lawyer.
The same family.
The same scheme.
Only the target had changed.
My phone rang.
Hospital security.
“Mr. Carter, there is a visitor downstairs claiming to be your mother.”
“She’s in custody.”
There was a pause.
“That’s what we thought.”
I stood.
“Don’t let anyone upstairs.”
Emily grabbed my hand.
“Ryan.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
Harris called two officers.
Minutes later, security detained a woman wearing a blond wig and sunglasses.
She wasn’t Mom.
She carried no weapon.
Only an envelope.
Inside was a handwritten note.
Robert has been lying to everyone. Ask him what happened the night your grandfather died.
Margaret sank into her chair.
“What?”
I looked at her.
“Grandpa had a heart attack.”
“That’s what we were told.”
“You were his accountant.”
“I wasn’t there.”
Her hands began trembling.
“But Robert was.”
Harris made a call.
Ten minutes later, he returned with a strange expression.
“The woman downstairs says Victor paid her five hundred dollars to deliver the envelope.”
“So Victor wants me asking questions.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Maybe he wants something exposed.”
Margaret suddenly stood.
“Or he wants Ryan angry enough to destroy Robert.”
That possibility made sense.
Victor had been disowned.
Dad inherited what remained.
Now Victor might be using me to settle an old score.
But that didn’t mean the accusation was false.
I called Dad’s attorney.
Not Keller.
His court-appointed criminal attorney.
“I want to speak with Robert.”
An hour later, Harris arranged it.
Dad sat behind thick glass in the county detention center.
He looked twenty years older.
I picked up the phone.
He did the same.
“What happened the night Grandpa died?”
His eyes changed.
“Who told you to ask?”
“Victor.”
Dad closed his eyes.
“So he’s finally doing it.”
“Doing what?”
“Trying to take everything.”
“He says you’re lying.”
Dad laughed without humor.
“Victor lies every time he breathes.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
He looked directly at me.
“Your grandfather didn’t die alone.”
“I know. You were there.”
“So was Victor.”
My grip tightened on the phone.
“What happened?”
Dad leaned toward the glass.
“He came to the house demanding money.”
“And?”
“They argued.”
“Then what?”
“Your grandfather collapsed.”
“Did you call an ambulance?”
Dad looked away.
That single movement terrified me.
“Robert.”
His eyes returned to mine.
“Victor stopped me.”
My throat tightened.
“What do you mean stopped you?”
“He said if we waited, the company would finally belong to us.”
I felt nauseous.
“How long?”
Dad whispered, “Eleven minutes.”
I stared at him.
“You waited eleven minutes before calling for help?”
Tears filled his eyes.
“I was scared.”
“No.”
I stood.
“You were greedy.”
“Ryan, please.”
I put down the phone.
He slammed his hand against the glass.
But I was already walking away.
Harris waited outside.
Before I could speak, his phone rang.
He listened.
Then his face hardened.
“What happened?”
He looked at me.
“Martin Keller was found dead this morning.”
May you like
Emily and our baby were safe for the moment.
But the only man who knew every secret in my family had just been silenced.
