Chapter 6 - THE DEAD MAN'S SECOND LIFE
Audrey arrived at the private chapel with two investigators waiting in a vehicle several yards away.
She entered alone.
The chapel was empty.
Candles burned near the altar.
For nearly ten minutes, nothing happened.
Then a door opened behind her.
Audrey turned.
The man standing there looked older than the father she remembered.
His hair was gray.
His shoulders were thinner.
But his eyes were unmistakable.
“Dad?”
He stopped.
Neither moved.
Then Audrey crossed the room.
She didn't hug him.
She slapped him.
Once.
Hard.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
Her father closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“You watched me mourn you.”
“I know.”
“You let me marry into this family.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
He looked broken.
“I thought disappearing would keep you alive.”
Audrey's anger trembled.
“Who wanted me dead?”
“Victoria wasn't the mastermind.”
“Then who?”
Her father looked toward the chapel doors.
“Your husband's father.”
Audrey's face went blank.
“Dominic's father died six years ago.”
“He was declared dead.”
“What does that mean?”
“He survived.”
Audrey felt the same shock she had felt when she first saw the photograph.
“You're telling me Dominic's father is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how can you know he's responsible?”
“Because I helped him disappear.”
Audrey stared at him.
Her father explained that twenty-three years earlier, Dominic's father had discovered massive financial fraud inside the company.
Instead of reporting it, he created the trust.
But someone inside the company began threatening his family.
So Audrey's father helped him disappear.
The plan was supposed to last six months.
It lasted decades.
“And Victoria?” Audrey asked.
“She thought her husband was dead.”
“Was she involved?”
“Not at first.”
“And Richard?”
“Richard knows where he is.”
Audrey's voice shook.
“Why would Richard send me the photograph?”
“Because he's afraid.”
“Of whom?”
Her father looked at her.
“Your husband.”
Audrey frowned.
“Dominic?”
“No.”
He lowered his voice.
“Dominic's father.”
Before Audrey could respond, the chapel doors opened.
Richard Vale walked in.
He held a folder.
“I think it's time you knew everything.”
Audrey stared at him.
“Why now?”
“Because the man we thought was dead has started moving money again.”
“How much?”
Richard looked down.
“Twenty-four million dollars.”
Audrey's stomach tightened.
“Where?”
“Into accounts connected to your company.”
Her father stepped forward.
“That's impossible.”
Richard shook his head.
“No. It's deliberate.”
He opened the folder.
The first page showed a series of transfers.
The last one had been made three days earlier.
The recipient name was not a shell company.
It was a person.
Audrey's face went pale.
The recipient was:
Dominic Hayes.
She stared at the page.
“No.”
Richard whispered:
“Someone has been using your husband's identity.”
Audrey looked at her father.
Then at Richard.
“Then where is Dominic?”
Richard's expression changed.
“He disappeared an hour ago.”
At that exact moment, Audrey's phone rang.
Dominic's number.
She answered.
His voice was barely audible.
“Audrey…”
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
“What happened?”
“I found my father.”
Silence.
Then Dominic whispered:
“He's alive.”
A loud crash sounded through the phone.
Dominic gasped.
May you like
Someone shouted in the background.
Then the call ended.
