Chapter 2 - THE DEATH CERTIFICATE THAT SHOULDN'T HAVE EXISTED
Adrian immediately asked Gabriel to bring Victor's records to his private office.
I refused to let anyone take Mia away, so Adrian arranged for us to remain together in a sitting room connected to the study.
Mia curled up on the couch with her elephant, apparently unaware that her innocent question had torn open a secret six years old.
Adrian sat across from me.
“Tell me exactly what Victor gave you.”
I gripped my hands.
“Three days after Benjamin disappeared, Victor came to our apartment. He said Benjamin had died in a highway accident outside Albany.”
“Did you identify the body?”
“No.”
My voice broke.
“Victor said the remains were badly damaged. He gave me a death certificate, the funeral arrangements, and a small box containing Benjamin's watch.”
Adrian looked toward Gabriel.
“Get the certificate.”
I had a photograph of it on my phone.
Gabriel examined the document and immediately called an attorney who worked with Kane Consolidated.
Ten minutes later, we had an answer.
The certificate number did not correspond to a valid death record.
I stared at the screen.
“No.”
Gabriel's voice softened.
“Elena, this document wasn't issued through the proper state system.”
I shook my head.
“But I buried him.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“What did you bury?”
I covered my mouth.
“A sealed coffin.”
For six years, I had visited a grave that might not even contain my husband.
Mia looked up.
“Mommy?”
I immediately wiped my face.
“Everything's okay, sweetheart.”
It was another lie told to protect my daughter.
Adrian noticed.
He knelt beside her.
“Mia, would you like Mrs. Whitmore to bring you some chocolate milk?”
Mia looked at me first.
I nodded.
She followed the elderly housekeeper into the adjoining room, still clutching her elephant.
When the door closed, I turned on Adrian.
“Where is my husband?”
“I don't know.”
“Then find him!”
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Gabriel immediately straightened.
But Adrian raised a hand.
“Let her speak.”
Tears blurred my vision.
“Six years, Mr. Kane. I spent six years believing Benjamin was dead. I raised our daughter alone. I worked two jobs. I sold almost everything we owned.”
Adrian didn't interrupt.
Then I asked the question that had haunted me for years.
“Did you order someone to hurt him?”
His face hardened.
“No.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn't believe me simply because I say so.”
He looked at Gabriel.
“Find independent investigators. Preserve every record connected to Benjamin Hayes and the foundation.”
Then Adrian opened a secure archive on his computer.
Benjamin's final employment report appeared.
According to the report, he had diverted twelve million dollars into an offshore account and vanished before investigators could question him.
The report was signed by Victor Kane.
But the attached authorization to suspend Benjamin's financial access carried another signature.
Adrian Kane.
My stomach dropped.
“You signed it.”
Adrian stared at the document.
“Yes.”
He looked genuinely disturbed.
“But I signed an order to remove Benjamin's access while the accounts were reviewed. I never authorized an arrest, an abduction, or anything that could harm him.”
I wanted to believe him.
I couldn't.
Then Gabriel opened another file.
A series of foundation payments made during the six years after Benjamin's supposed death.
Every month, thirty-five thousand dollars had been transferred to a private medical-services company in upstate New York.
The beneficiary reference on every payment was the same.
BENJAMIN HAYES.
Adrian went completely still.
May you like
Someone had been making payments in my husband's name for six years.
And Victor had personally approved every one.
