Chapter 16 - THE FALSE ALLY
The security footage from Margaret’s office showed two masked people.
One disabled the alarm.
The other knew exactly which cabinet to open.
There was no forced search.
No hesitation.
Someone had told them where the ledger was.
Police questioned employees.
Contractors.
Former clients.
Then Caleb noticed something.
“The taller guy walks like Mason.”
Detective Ruiz replayed the footage.
Caleb pointed again.
“He hurt his left knee skiing last year.”
The intruder dragged his left foot slightly.
Police searched Mason’s apartment.
Empty.
His car was gone.
So was the money he had withdrawn from his account.
Mason had played both sides from the beginning.
He gave us evidence because he wanted leverage.
Then he approached my mother for money.
When he realized my parents were going down, he tried to steal the most damaging original document and sell it back to whoever paid more.
Luckily, Grandma had planned for people like Mason too.
Margaret had scanned every page.
Investigators had authenticated the ledger before the burglary.
Stealing the original didn’t erase the evidence.
It only added another crime.
Mason was arrested two states away.
The ledger was recovered from his trunk.
He immediately asked for a deal.
Nobody was surprised.
His information gave investigators one final piece.
My father had instructed Mason to destroy several storage boxes before the barbecue.
One of those boxes contained accounting records proving exactly where the stolen trust money had gone.
A vacation property.
Lauren’s apartment.
My parents’ personal investments.
And nearly seven hundred thousand dollars transferred into an account nobody recognized.
The account belonged to a shell company.
Its registered manager was Diane Mercer.
The money had been untouched for years.
Then, one week before I was attacked, my mother withdrew fifty thousand dollars.
Detective Ruiz looked at me across the hospital room.
“We need to know where that money went.”
Before he could continue, pain ripped across my abdomen.
I grabbed Ethan’s arm.
Another contraction followed.
Then another.
May you like
Dr. Collins rushed inside.
My daughter had decided she was no longer waiting for anyone’s investigation.
