Chapter 14 - Five Minutes With a Killer
Rachel refused to leave me alone with Owen.
I didn’t argue.
“Then he gets five minutes with you standing ten feet away.”
Owen accepted.
We entered my father’s study.
The door remained open.
Rachel stood outside.
Two agents waited beside her.
Owen sat in a chair with his hands cuffed in front of him.
I remained standing.
“Talk.”
He looked exhausted now.
Older.
Less like the man who had controlled the estate.
More like the coward behind him.
“Your mother discovered the network five years before she died.”
“I know.”
“She spent those years collecting evidence.”
“I know that too.”
“She could have gone public.”
“Why didn’t she?”
“Because Conrad had someone inside the Hartwell family.”
I stared at him.
“My father?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Owen looked toward the ballroom.
“Your uncle.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
My father’s younger brother, Daniel Hartwell, had died eleven years ago.
Plane crash.
No survivors.
“That’s impossible.”
“Daniel wasn’t stealing money.”
“Then what was he doing?”
“He was giving Conrad internal schedules, board documents, bank approvals.”
“Why?”
“Debt.”
I shook my head.
“My uncle was worth hundreds of millions.”
“On paper.”
Owen leaned forward.
“He lost almost everything gambling through private accounts.”
My mind raced.
“Mom found out?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She confronted him.”
“And?”
“He agreed to testify.”
I waited.
Owen looked at the floor.
“The next morning, his plane went down.”
My skin went cold.
Two family deaths.
Both labeled accidents.
“Did you kill him too?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I handled Leah.”
His voice broke.
“I handled Evelyn.”
He swallowed.
“But Daniel wasn’t mine.”
For the first time, Owen sounded afraid of someone else.
“Then whose?”
“I never knew.”
I stared at him.
“What does this have to do with the transfer?”
Owen raised his eyes.
“Conrad believes everyone connected to Daniel is dead.”
“And?”
“One isn’t.”
My heartbeat changed.
“Who?”
Owen hesitated.
“Daniel had a daughter.”
I almost laughed.
“My uncle never had children.”
“That’s what your family was told.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Name?”
Owen shook his head.
“Evelyn hid her.”
The timer outside sounded through Nathan’s phone.
Nineteen minutes.
I stepped closer.
“Stop the transfer.”
Owen looked at me.
“If I do, I want my cooperation documented.”
“You don’t get forgiveness.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get a clean deal.”
“I know.”
“You tell them everything.”
His eyes lowered.
“Yes.”
We returned to the ballroom.
The technician initiated voice verification.
Owen stood before the microphone.
“Mercer men never kneel before anyone alive.”
Green.
TRANSFER SUSPENDED.
A cheer erupted.
Then the screen changed.
SECONDARY PROCESS ACTIVE.
My smile vanished.
The technician swore.
“What now?”
He opened another window.
Not a money transfer.
A data purge.
Every account, recording, and offshore server connected to the network had begun erasing itself.
Time remaining.
Nine minutes.
Conrad smiled again.
“You stopped the money.”
May you like
He leaned back.
“But you’re about to lose the proof.”
