Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
I didn't remember leaving the country club.
I only remembered sitting in Daniel's office while he placed a glass of water in front of me.
“My father is alive?”
Daniel nodded.
“Apparently.”
“How?”
“We're investigating.”
“Who knows where he is?”
Helen raised her hand.
“I do.”
Everyone looked at her.
“He contacted me eight months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew Bradley was coming after you.”
My chest tightened.
“Then why didn't he contact me?”
“Because he was afraid.”
“Of Bradley?”
Helen shook her head.
“Of the people behind Bradley.”
That sentence changed everything.
I thought Bradley was the mastermind.
Maybe he wasn't.
Daniel leaned forward.
“Your father built a company before he disappeared.”
“What company?”
“An investment firm.”
I frowned.
“My father was an accountant.”
“That was the public story.”
Daniel showed me an old newspaper article.
The headline read:
LOCAL FINANCIAL EXECUTIVE DISAPPEARS AFTER CORPORATE INVESTIGATION.
I stared at the photograph.
It was my father.
But the article contained a detail I had never known.
He had been investigating a massive money-laundering network.
And one of the companies named in the investigation was owned by Bradley's family.
My hands went numb.
“Why would my father hide this from me?”
“Because someone threatened your life.”
I looked at Helen.
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
Instead, she placed a photograph on the table.
It showed my father standing beside another man.
I recognized him immediately.
Bradley's father.
They had been partners.
Then I saw the date.
Twenty-three years earlier.
The same year my father disappeared.
Daniel continued.
“Your father discovered that Bradley's father had been moving money through shell companies.”
“And my father exposed him?”
“He tried.”
“What happened?”
“He disappeared.”
I looked at Bradley's family tree.
The pieces suddenly connected.
His father.
His mother.
The old company.
The hidden accounts.
The fraud.
My marriage.
The three-point-eight million.
It wasn't just about stealing my company.
They wanted something buried in my family.
“What did my father have?”
Helen answered.
“A ledger.”
My heart raced.
“Where is it?”
She shook her head.
“We don't know.”
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice came through.
“Maddie.”
I froze.
I knew that voice.
I hadn't heard it in twenty-seven years.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
I began crying.
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because they're listening.”
I looked at Daniel.
He immediately began tracing the call.
My father continued.
“Your husband didn't marry you for your money.”
“Then why?”
“To find something I hid before I disappeared.”
“What?”
“The original ledger.”
I closed my eyes.
“Where is it?”
“In the one place they would never search.”
“Where?”
He whispered:
“Your childhood home.”
I shook my head.
“That house was sold.”
“No.”
“What?”
“I bought it back.”
My heart stopped.
“Dad…”
Then his voice became urgent.
“You need to leave your house immediately.”
“Why?”
“Because Bradley knows you found me.”
The line went dead.
Daniel looked at his computer.
“Call ended.”
“Can you trace it?”
He stared at the screen.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
His face changed.
“Your house.”
At that exact moment, my security app sent an alert.
May you like
Motion detected inside residence.
Someone was already there.
