Chapter 10 - The Red Ledger
The estate became a fortress.
Police vehicles guarded every entrance.
Liam slept in Mark’s bedroom with Elena nearby.
No one trusted the hidden passages anymore.
Every panel was sealed.
Every employee was questioned.
Mark did not sleep.
At dawn, he returned to Sarah’s office.
Red ledger.
He searched desks.
Shelves.
Cabinets.
Nothing.
Elena joined him.
“What did Sarah use every day?”
Mark looked around.
“Her laptop.”
“Gone.”
“Her planner.”
“Police took it after the crash.”
“Books?”
“She read constantly.”
Elena studied the shelves.
Then she smiled faintly.
“Sarah hated red.”
Mark looked at her.
“What?”
“She once told me red made every room feel angry.”
Mark understood.
“If she wanted something hidden…”
“She wouldn’t put it in something obviously red.”
They began pulling books from shelves.
One red spine stood among dozens of black legal volumes.
Mark removed it.
It was hollow.
Inside was a thin accounting ledger.
Sarah had handwritten hundreds of transactions.
Dates.
Accounts.
Project codes.
Names.
Crane’s name appeared repeatedly.
So did Victoria’s real name.
But another set of initials appeared even more often.
P.S.
Mark felt cold.
Patrick Sloan.
Ashford Development’s general counsel.
The man responsible for protecting the company from fraud.
“He’s involved.”
Elena whispered.
Mark stared at the ledger.
Sloan had approved contracts.
Created shell companies.
Modified trust documents.
Crane had not acted alone.
This conspiracy existed inside the company’s legal department.
Mark called Detective Shaw.
She told him not to contact Sloan.
Before she could arrive, Mark received an email.
From Patrick Sloan.
We need to speak privately.
Mark stared at it.
A second message followed.
Robert Crane is trying to frame me.
I can prove it.
Then another.
Victoria contacted me.
She wants to surrender.
Mark’s eyes narrowed.
“Trap.”
Elena nodded.
“Probably.”
“But if Victoria wants out…”
“She may know Crane is losing control.”
Mark forwarded everything to Shaw.
They arranged a controlled meeting.
Victoria chose an abandoned restaurant near the river.
Police surrounded the area.
Mark was forbidden from entering.
He watched through surveillance cameras from a command vehicle.
Victoria arrived alone.
No elegant dress.
No makeup.
No cold smile.
She looked terrified.
Patrick Sloan arrived five minutes later.
Victoria immediately confronted him.
“You said Crane would protect me.”
Sloan looked around.
“Lower your voice.”
“You promised.”
“You made mistakes.”
“He made me hurt that child.”
Sloan’s face hardened.
“No one made you do anything.”
Victoria recoiled.
Mark stared at the screen.
She had finally said it aloud.
Then Sloan said something worse.
“Rebecca, you were supposed to marry Mark.”
“I tried.”
“You were supposed to control the boy.”
“I did.”
“You were supposed to create enough evidence to remove Mark.”
Victoria’s voice shook.
“And then what?”
Sloan answered coldly.
“Crane would take care of the rest.”
Victoria stared at him.
“You mean kill him.”
Sloan did not answer.
He did not need to.
Police moved in.
Sloan spotted them.
He ran.
Victoria dropped to her knees.
She surrendered immediately.
Sloan made it half a block before officers arrested him.
Within an hour, Victoria was in custody.
Mark expected relief.
Instead, Detective Shaw called him aside.
“Victoria wants to speak with you.”
“No.”
“She says it concerns Liam.”
Mark stopped.
“What about him?”
“She says Crane had a second plan.”
Mark entered the interrogation room behind mirrored glass.
Victoria sat handcuffed to a table.
She looked smaller than he remembered.
Less powerful.
But Mark felt no sympathy.
She looked toward the mirror.
“I know you’re there.”
Mark remained silent.
Victoria leaned forward.
“Crane knew I might fail.”
Detective Shaw asked, “What was the backup plan?”
Victoria swallowed.
“He had someone else inside the house.”
Mark’s heart stopped.
“Who?”
May you like
Victoria looked directly toward the mirror.
“Someone Mark still trusts.”
