Chapter 19 - The Fuse
For six seconds, nobody moved.
Then I stood.
“Find him.”
Morales was already giving orders.
“Freeze every connected account. Alert the bank. Lock the trust.”
He looked at me.
“They may already be inside the system.”
“How much was taken?”
He didn't answer.
“How much?”
“Everything.”
The room blurred.
Daniel caught my elbow.
“What does everything mean?”
Morales looked at me.
“The trust account.”
My chest tightened.
“The master account?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
He finally said it.
“Thirty-six million dollars.”
Silence.
Evelyn sat down.
“My God.”
I looked at the screen.
Arthur's authorization had been used.
My name beneath it.
The money was gone.
“Where did it go?”
Morales shook his head.
“Three transfers.”
“Where?”
“An offshore holding company.”
“Which one?”
He looked at the file.
“Blackwell Holdings.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Mom whispered:
“No.”
I turned.
“You know that name.”
She nodded slowly.
“Bennett mentioned it.”
“Bennett is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then who controls Blackwell Holdings?”
She stared at me.
“I don't know.”
Evelyn did.
“Arthur.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Not willingly.”
Morales looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Blackwell Holdings was created under Arthur's identity.”
“So Arthur is Blackwell?”
“No.”
“Then someone used his identity.”
“Exactly.”
I stared at the transactions.
“Then whoever controls the company has Arthur's information.”
“Yes.”
“Which means they can authorize anything.”
“Yes.”
“Even my account.”
Evelyn nodded.
“And they know where the master ledger is.”
My skin prickled.
“Where?”
She looked at me.
“You.”
“What?”
“The ledger isn't in a bank.”
“Then where?”
“Inside your original account.”
I didn't understand.
Evelyn took my phone.
“Open the banking app.”
I did.
She pointed to the account number.
“See the last four digits?”
“Yes.”
“Your birth year.”
I stared.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Your father used the account number as the encryption key.”
Daniel frowned.
“Then someone needs Claire's personal data to access it.”
“Yes.”
I looked at my mother.
“Who has had that information?”
She didn't answer.
Morales said:
“Bennett.”
I closed my eyes.
The person who had spent years near my family.
The person who had handled my father's trust.
The person who had access to my mother's financial records.
The person who had been at the storage unit.
The person who had been pretending to help us.
But Bennett was dead.
Unless that was another lie.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then I heard a man's breathing.
“Dad?”
A voice whispered:
“Run.”
My blood went cold.
“Where are you?”
“Don't trust the police.”
Morales looked at me sharply.
“Dad, where are you?”
“Claire…”
He sounded terrified.
“Someone has Natalie.”
I turned.
Natalie's chair was empty.
My stomach dropped.
“Where is she?”
Everyone looked around.
Daniel swore.
“She was right there.”
Morales shouted:
“Lock the building down!”
Doors slammed.
Officers rushed through the hallway.
I grabbed my mother.
“Where is Natalie?”
“I don't know.”
“You knew this would happen.”
“No!”
“You knew.”
“I didn't!”
The phone was still against my ear.
“Dad!”
Nothing.
Then a whisper.
“Come to the old warehouse.”
“Which one?”
“Where your mother took the gifts.”
I froze.
The baby-shower warehouse.
The storage facility where my mother had taken the gifts I'd received.
The place where the first financial records had disappeared.
The place we'd never thought mattered.
“Claire,” Daniel said.
Dad continued:
“Bring the key.”
“The E key?”
“No.”
“The brass key?”
“Seventeen.”
I understood.
“Dad, are you there?”
A pause.
Then:
“Yes.”
The line went dead.
I turned toward Morales.
“We're going.”
“No.”
“She's my sister.”
“It could be a trap.”
“I know.”
Daniel took my hand.
“We're going anyway.”
My mother stepped forward.
“I am coming.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
“Claire.”
“You've lied to me for years.”
“I know.”
“You've hidden Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
“You changed the trust.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe my father was dead.”
Her voice broke.
“I know.”
“Then tell me one thing honestly.”
“What?”
“Do you know where Natalie is?”
Mom looked toward the floor.
“I know where they would take her.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
She whispered:
“Arthur's first safe house.”
“Where is that?”
She looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn answered.
“Under the old church.”
I stared.
“What church?”
Evelyn's face turned white.
“The church where Arthur and Margaret got married.”
Mom closed her eyes.
“They won't take Natalie there.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“They already did.”
The room went silent.
Then every light in the safe house went out.
Gunfire erupted in the parking lot.
Officers shouted.
Glass shattered.
Daniel pulled me to the floor.
My mother screamed.
When the emergency lights came on, Evelyn was gone.
May you like
And on the wall, someone had painted four words.
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHO YOU ARE.
