Chapter 4
I read the sentence until the words stopped looking real.
Martin’s crash was not an accident.
Seven years earlier, Ellis had come home after midnight.
He looked shaken.
I remembered asking what happened.
“Martin’s dead.”
I had gasped.
Ellis told me Martin’s car left a rural highway during a storm.
He attended the funeral.
He comforted Martin’s widow.
He even created a scholarship in Martin’s name.
For years, I thought that proved Ellis had a heart.
Now I felt sick.
Denise shut my laptop.
“No more opening anonymous attachments on this device.”
I stared at her.
“Someone is saying my husband may have killed a man.”
“Your ex-husband.”
“That doesn’t make it less terrifying.”
She nodded.
“We need professional help now.”
This time I agreed.
But before we contacted anyone, I wanted to know who was sending the messages.
The anonymous sender answered that question first.
Meet me at Scioto Audubon Park. Noon. Alone.
Denise immediately said no.
“I’m going.”
“Absolutely not.”
“They know about Noah.”
“They might also be baiting you.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“They knew where he was this morning.”
Denise argued for ten minutes.
We compromised.
I would go.
She would remain nearby.
At noon, I sat on a bench overlooking the river.
My palms were damp.
Families walked along the path.
Cyclists passed.
Nothing looked dangerous.
Then a man sat beside me.
Mid-forties.
Black coat.
Baseball cap.
I recognized him after several seconds.
“Daniel?”
Daniel Reeves had worked at Chappell Global years earlier.
Operations director.
Then one day he vanished.
Ellis told me Daniel stole company data and was fired.
Daniel looked straight ahead.
“I wondered if you’d remember me.”
“Ellis said you disappeared after stealing from him.”
Daniel laughed quietly.
“Of course he did.”
My heart raced.
“Did you send the emails?”
“Yes.”
“Where is Noah?”
“Still in Charleston.”
“Why?”
“Ellis has a private meeting tonight.”
“With whom?”
“People connected to the offshore accounts.”
I turned toward him.
“You’re following them?”
“I’ve been following Ellis for years.”
“Why?”
Daniel finally looked at me.
“Because Martin Vale was my brother-in-law.”
My stomach dropped.
“Martin married my sister, Claire.”
I remembered Claire.
Soft-spoken.
Blonde.
Always carrying a camera.
After Martin died, she disappeared from our social circle.
“Claire believed his death was suspicious,” Daniel continued.
“She asked me to investigate company accounts Martin had been reviewing.”
“What did you find?”
“That Chappell Global was moving client escrow money through fake vendors.”
The river seemed suddenly far away.
“Ellis and Grant?”
“Yes.”
“Did Martin know?”
“He discovered it.”
I covered my mouth.
Daniel continued.
“Martin threatened to report them.”
“And then he died.”
“Yes.”
“Are you saying Ellis killed him?”
“I’m saying Martin’s brake line had been tampered with.”
My body went cold.
“Police ruled it mechanical failure.”
“Because the damaged part disappeared before an independent inspection.”
“Who had access?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“A mechanic whose shop received eighty thousand dollars from one of Grant’s companies two weeks later.”
I looked away.
This was bigger than fraud.
Bigger than divorce.
“Why haven’t you gone to police?”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
“Not enough proof.”
He reached into his jacket.
I tensed.
He removed a flash drive.
“Martin had copied account records before he died. Claire found them hidden inside his office wall during a renovation last year.”
“Why not turn them over?”
“We did.”
I stared at him.
“Federal investigators have been building a case.”
The world seemed to tilt.
“Then why involve me?”
“Because Ellis started moving money after you filed for divorce.”
“The six million.”
Daniel nodded.
“It’s part of the stolen funds.”
“How did Noah get the card?”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“That part surprised everyone.”
“What happened?”
“Noah overheard Ellis and Grant talking.”
My throat tightened.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
Daniel explained that Noah had been doing homework in Ellis’s home office when he heard Grant arrive.
They argued.
Grant accused Ellis of planning to move money without him.
Noah recorded part of the conversation on his tablet.
“He contacted someone.”
“Who?”
“Claire.”
I stared at him.
“How would he know Claire?”
“She runs the Martin Vale Foundation.”
Noah’s school had participated in one of its charity programs.
Apparently Noah remembered the name.
He found Claire online.
He sent the recording.
My twelve-year-old son had done what every adult around him had failed to do.
He asked questions.
“What was on the recording?”
“Enough to prove Ellis was hiding money.”
“Then why did Noah choose Ellis in court?”
Daniel’s expression softened.
“Because Ellis became suspicious.”
My chest tightened.
“Suspicious of Noah?”
“He found Noah searching his office.”
I felt sick.
“What did he do?”
“Threatened to send him to boarding school overseas if he kept interfering.”
I closed my eyes.
“God.”
“Noah was terrified Ellis would cut you off completely if he chose you.”
“So Claire told him to pretend?”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That was Noah’s idea.”
Of course it was.
My clever, stubborn boy.
“He figured if Ellis believed he had won, he’d relax.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“And the card?”
“Ellis planned to move six million to a new account overseas. Noah found the access card.”
“How?”
“Grant left it inside a document pouch.”
I stared at Daniel.
“My son stole evidence from criminals.”
“Yes.”
Anger flashed through me.
“He is twelve.”
“I know.”
“You let him do this?”
“We didn’t know until after.”
I stood.
“I want him out.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
Daniel rose too.
“Federal agents plan to approach Ellis tonight after his meeting.”
“No.”
“We need him to make the transfer.”
“My son is with him.”
“I know.”
“Then no.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Sabrina, Noah insisted on staying close because he heard Ellis say your name.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Ellis and Grant were discussing the money.”
Daniel swallowed.
“And Ellis said if you discovered the offshore accounts, he had a way to make sure you never testified.”
My skin went cold.
“What way?”
“We don’t know.”
My phone suddenly rang.
Noah.
I answered instantly.
“Baby?”
His voice was barely a whisper.
“Mom, listen to me.”
“Noah, where are you?”
“Dad knows.”
I gripped the phone.
“Knows what?”
“The card.”
Then I heard a door slam behind him.
May you like
Noah gasped.
“Mom, he knows I gave it to you.”
