Chapter 4 - The Missing Box
Julian arrived twelve minutes after Sarah called him.
He entered with two security officers and immediately stopped when he saw the apartment.
Leo sat wrapped in a blanket on the couch.
Sarah stood beside the broken bedroom door.
“They took only the box.”
Julian looked at her.
“What was inside?”
“Leo’s birth certificate.”
“What else?”
“Hospital records.”
Sarah hesitated.
“And the original letter telling me to disappear.”
Julian cursed under his breath.
The typed letter Sarah had shown him at the gala had been a photocopy she kept in her wallet.
The original contained the envelope.
And the envelope might contain fingerprints, postal markings, or evidence identifying who had actually sent it.
Julian called his head of security, Marcus Hale.
“Get the building cameras.”
Sarah shook her head.
“There aren’t any.”
Leo spoke from the couch.
“Yes, there are.”
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed toward the window.
“Mr. Bennett put a camera over the laundry room after somebody stole his packages.”
Sarah stared at her son.
“When did you notice that?”
Leo shrugged.
“I notice things.”
Despite everything, Julian smiled.
“So do I.”
An hour later, they crowded into the downstairs laundry room with Mr. Bennett, a retired bus driver who guarded his security recordings like national secrets.
At 8:42 p.m., a black SUV appeared.
A man wearing a maintenance jacket entered Sarah’s building.
Six minutes later, he left carrying her metal box.
Marcus froze the image.
Julian leaned closer.
“I know him.”
Sarah’s stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“Eric Dalton.”
Victoria’s former driver.
Sarah felt cold.
But Marcus shook his head.
“He stopped working for the Sterlings two years ago.”
Julian stared at the screen.
“Officially.”
Sarah turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we do not accuse anyone until we know who paid him.”
Leo suddenly pointed again.
“Go back.”
Marcus rewound the recording.
“Stop.”
The image froze as Dalton entered the building.
A second person sat in the passenger seat.
Only part of the face was visible.
Sarah leaned closer.
It was not Victoria.
It was a man.
Older.
Silver hair.
Julian stared at the screen.
His expression changed completely.
Sarah had never seen him look frightened before.
“Julian?”
He did not answer.
“Who is that?”
Julian slowly straightened.
“My father’s former attorney.”
Sarah frowned.
“Why would your father’s attorney steal Leo’s records?”
Julian looked toward his son.
“Because eight years ago he handled the trust my father created for any future Vance grandchildren.”
Sarah went still.
“What trust?”
May you like
Julian met her eyes.
“One that could make Leo the second-largest individual shareholder in my company.”
