Chapter 13 - The Bluebird Account
Our first dance had been to a song Laura used to tease me about.
I knew the answer instantly.
The password worked.
The account opened.
There were no emails.
Only a link to an encrypted cloud folder.
The folder contained everything.
Bank statements.
Security screenshots.
Scans of forged documents.
Audio recordings.
And video diaries Laura had recorded during the weeks before her crash.
She had built her own insurance policy.
One video was dated six days before she disappeared.
“Grant is stealing from the company.
Peter is laundering the money.
Natalie helped them access Daniel’s credentials, but I think she wants out.”
Laura looked exhausted.
“I made a mistake today.
I told Peter I had copies.”
She closed her eyes.
“If anything happens to me, Daniel is going to blame himself.”
I had to stop the video for several minutes.
Then I continued.
“Daniel, don’t.”
She had known me too well.
“You trusted people because that is who you are.
The responsibility belongs to the people who betrayed that trust.”
I swallowed hard.
The next file contained GPS coordinates.
A location deep in the woods beyond Lake Greenwood.
Ruiz compared them with property records.
The land belonged to an investment company called North Blue Holdings.
North Blue was one of Grant’s shell companies.
A warrant was approved.
At dawn the next morning, police entered the property.
There was an old hunting cabin hidden beyond the tree line.
Inside, investigators found photographs of Laura.
Copies of the documents she had collected.
Medical supplies matching those from Peter’s lake house.
And an old digital voice recorder.
The final file had been recorded four years earlier.
Laura’s voice came first.
“You can’t keep me here forever.”
Grant answered.
“I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“Then let me go.”
“I can’t.”
“Peter is going to kill me.”
Silence.
Then Grant said something that changed the entire case.
“I know.”
Laura’s voice became quiet.
“Then help me.”
Grant began crying.
“I already tried once.”
The recording stopped.
May you like
Grant had not been innocent.
But for the first time, it sounded like he might not have been the person Laura feared most.
