Chapter 14 - THE SECOND FRAME
The transfer was too perfect.
That saved me.
My credentials had been used three hours before I was granted access to the company’s banking system.
Whoever created the fraud had made one mistake.
They assumed nobody would check the timestamp.
Federal agents released me after questioning.
Caldwell’s confidence disappeared when the forensic team found the authorization had originated from Arthur’s private terminal.
But the money remained missing.
Forty-seven million dollars.
I returned to the company headquarters after midnight.
Julian sat in Arthur’s old office.
“You should go home.”
I said.
“So should you.”
Neither of us moved.
Vanessa arrived with coffee.
It was the first time in twelve years the three of us had been alone without Arthur controlling the room.
Julian looked at the empty chair behind the desk.
“He really did destroy us.”
“No.”
Vanessa said.
“He trained us to destroy each other.”
That was more accurate.
My phone rang.
Mercer.
His voice was weak from the hospital.
“The forty-seven million.”
He said.
“It isn’t stolen.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s escrow.”
“For what?”
“A settlement reserve.”
“With whom?”
“The Meridian families.”
I stood.
Arthur had secretly created a reserve years ago.
Not to compensate the families.
To silence them if the truth surfaced.
“Where did he move it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who would?”
“Arthur’s private accountant.”
“Name?”
“Samuel Price.”
Julian and Vanessa exchanged a look.
“What?”
I asked.
Julian answered.
“Samuel died six years ago.”
Mercer went silent.
Then he whispered.
“No, he didn’t.”
My skin prickled.
“What?”
“Arthur staged his death.”
“Why?”
“Because Price knew every hidden account.”
“Where is he?”
Mercer gave us an address.
A farmhouse three hours north.
We arrived shortly before sunrise.
The front door stood open.
Inside, the house was empty.
Except for one chair.
One envelope.
And one photograph.
The photograph showed my mother standing beside Samuel Price.
On the back was a handwritten message.
ELEANOR DIDN’T TRUST MERCER.
I stared at it.
Reed stood beside me.
“If she didn’t trust Mercer, why did she let him stay that night?”
“Maybe she didn’t.”
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
We froze.
Reed reached for his weapon.
A man appeared at the top of the staircase.
Grey hair.
Thin face.
Terrified eyes.
Samuel Price.
He raised both hands.
“I know where the forty-seven million is.”
He said.
May you like
Then his eyes moved to me.
“But if I tell you, you’ll learn something about your mother you’re not ready to hear.”
