Chapter 8
Naomi did not run.
She did not argue.
She handed her phone to the detective and asked for an attorney.
“I did not take money from Ryan,” she said. “But I understand how this looks.”
“You were the only person outside our family who knew the apartment address,” Robert replied.
“Ryan tracked Emily’s tablet.”
“Or you told him.”
Naomi looked at me.
“I didn’t betray you.”
I wanted to believe her.
But belief had become dangerous.
Police suspended her from participating in the case until they could investigate the accounts.
A court-appointed victim advocate stayed with Lily and me.
Robert offered another property.
I refused.
We moved into a protected shelter where no Carter employee knew the address.
Robert looked wounded.
“You think I would put you in danger?”
“I think every person in this family has hidden something.”
“I’m trying to help.”
“So was Naomi.”
Claire came with us.
She said Ryan knew where her son was living, and she feared he would use Jacob next.
Jacob was staying with close friends in Ohio.
Claire called him every hour.
Each time he answered, her shoulders relaxed.
That night, Lily slept beside me.
She woke from a nightmare before midnight.
“Daddy was washing your face away,” she cried.
I held her until she stopped shaking.
“He can’t erase me.”
“He said I would forget you.”
“You won’t.”
“Did Grandpa know Daddy was bad?”
The question hurt because there was no gentle answer.
“He knew Daddy had hurt someone before.”
“And he didn’t tell us?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because grown-ups sometimes hide the truth when they’re ashamed.”
“That makes the truth bigger.”
I stared at her.
Eight years old, and she understood what Robert had refused to accept for a decade.
“Yes,” I said. “It does.”
The next morning, the detective called.
The accounts bearing Naomi’s name had been opened with stolen identification.
The money had never gone to her.
It was transferred through offshore companies connected to Marcus, Robert’s former security chief.
Marcus had disappeared.
Naomi was cleared.
When she came to the shelter, she looked exhausted.
“I should have checked your devices before moving you.”
“I should have told you about the tablet.”
“We can blame ourselves later. Right now, we find Ryan.”
She spread documents across a table.
Marcus had worked with Diane for at least five years.
He accessed Robert’s home.
He erased security footage.
He created false incident reports.
He also witnessed Robert sign the agreement paying Claire to remain silent.
“Marcus knows enough to destroy everyone,” Claire said.
Naomi nodded.
“That makes him valuable to Ryan and dangerous to Diane.”
A news alert appeared on the television.
Robert Carter had been arrested.
Police accused him of obstructing the original investigation into Claire’s fall and hiding corporate theft.
Reporters surrounded him as officers led him from headquarters.
Ryan’s attorney released a statement calling Robert a corrupt businessman who had framed his innocent son.
Carter Development shares fell within minutes.
The board scheduled an emergency meeting to remove Robert as chairman.
“If Robert loses control, what happens to Lily’s trust?” I asked.
“The trust still owns the shares,” Naomi said. “But Robert is its current trustee.”
“Who replaces him?”
Naomi examined the document.
“You.”
My stomach dropped.
“I don’t know how to run a company.”
“You wouldn’t run daily operations. But you would control the voting rights until Lily turns twenty-five.”
“That makes me Ryan’s final obstacle.”
“Yes.”
My phone rang from an unknown number.
Marcus spoke when I answered.
“Emily, I can prove Naomi is innocent.”
“Where are you?”
“I can prove Ryan framed you too.”
“Then go to the police.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Diane will have me killed.”
Claire took the phone.
“You entered Robert’s house.”
Marcus went silent.
“You put the photograph on Lily’s pillow,” she continued.
“I was following orders.”
“Whose?”
“Diane’s.”
“Did she push me down the stairs?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Ryan had grabbed her during the argument.
Diane arrived and heard Claire threatening to expose the theft.
When Claire tried to leave, Diane pushed her.
Ryan then helped his mother make the fall appear accidental.
“Why didn’t Ryan tell the truth?” I asked.
“Because Diane reminded him that Claire’s evidence would send him to prison.”
“What does Diane want?”
“The company. She always wanted it.”
“For Ryan?”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“For herself.”
He explained that Diane had secretly negotiated the sale.
Ryan believed he would receive the money.
In reality, the buyer would transfer most of it into accounts Diane controlled.
“She planned to abandon him after the sale,” Marcus said.
“Where is Ryan now?”
“I don’t know.”
“You worked for him.”
“I worked for Diane.”
“Where is she keeping the original financial records?”
“At the Carter Foundation building.”
Naomi looked at Robert’s corporate map.
The foundation building was scheduled to host the emergency board meeting the following evening.
“Why hide the records there?” I asked.
“Because nobody searches a charity,” Marcus said.
“Meet us at the police station.”
“I can’t.”
“Then I can’t protect you.”
“You don’t understand. Diane has people inside the department.”
“Give me a name.”
“I only know one.”
A gunshot-like crack sounded through the phone.
Marcus gasped.
The line went dead.
Police traced the call to a motel near the airport.
By the time they arrived, the room was empty.
There was no blood.
No body.
Only Marcus’s phone.
On it was a scheduled message addressed to me.
The message contained a video.
Marcus sat in front of the camera.
“If you’re seeing this, Diane found me.”
He held up a file.
“These are the original company records. They show every transfer Ryan made and every payment Diane authorized.”
He looked over his shoulder.
“The copies are hidden in the Carter Foundation archive room. Cabinet twelve.”
Then his voice changed.
“There is something else.”
He held up a birth certificate.
“Ryan Carter’s biological father did not abandon him.”
Robert had always believed Diane’s former boyfriend disappeared before Ryan was born.
Marcus looked directly into the camera.
“Ryan’s father is alive.”
He named him.
May you like
Thomas Vale.
The man purchasing Carter Development.
