Chapter 7 - THE HOUSE OF LIES
Audrey's first instinct was to call the police.
Her second was to call Sophia.
Her third was to get to Dominic.
She followed the location attached to his last phone signal.
It led to an abandoned warehouse outside Nashville.
The same city where Dominic's father had once operated the company's first major construction project.
When Audrey arrived with investigators, the warehouse appeared empty.
But inside, they found Dominic's phone.
His jacket.
And blood on the concrete floor.
Audrey's heart stopped.
“Is he dead?”
The investigator crouched beside the stain.
“Not necessarily.”
He pointed toward the wall.
A message had been written in black marker.
ASK WHO SIGNED THE ORIGINAL DEATH CERTIFICATE.
Audrey immediately understood.
The death certificate.
Her father's.
Dominic's father's.
Two men had supposedly died.
Both had apparently survived.
And someone had been falsifying records for decades.
Sophia arrived twenty minutes later.
She brought one piece of information.
“The original death certificate for Dominic's father contains a forged signature.”
“Whose?”
“Victoria's.”
Audrey stared at her.
“Why would she sign it?”
“She may not have known what she was signing.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
Sophia handed her a second document.
A life insurance policy.
The beneficiary was Victoria.
The policy had been paid six years ago.
Audrey suddenly understood.
“His death created a payout.”
“Yes.”
“And if he was alive…”
“The money was fraudulent.”
Audrey felt sick.
“How much?”
“Thirty-one million dollars.”
“And where did it go?”
Sophia pointed to a bank statement.
Half had gone to Victoria.
The other half had gone into a trust.
Audrey's trust.
“But why?”
“Because your father created a mechanism to recover it.”
Audrey looked up.
“What mechanism?”
“The trust was designed to automatically reclaim stolen funds if the fraud was ever discovered.”
Audrey stared at the papers.
The entire marriage.
The company.
The inheritance.
The secret accounts.
Everything suddenly looked different.
Maybe her father hadn't been hiding from them.
Maybe he had been waiting.
Waiting for the moment the money trail became undeniable.
Then Sophia's phone rang.
She listened for several seconds.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She hung up.
“Dominic has been found.”
Audrey's heart jumped.
“Where?”
“In a church.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Who found him?”
Sophia hesitated.
“Your father.”
Audrey stared.
“Where?”
“Another strange part.”
Sophia lowered her voice.
“Dominic wasn't kidnapped.”
Audrey frowned.
“He went there voluntarily.”
“Why?”
“Because he received a message.”
“What message?”
Sophia handed her the phone.
The message contained only one sentence.
If you want to know why Audrey was chosen, come alone.
Audrey's blood turned cold.
“Chosen?”
Sophia nodded.
“And there was a photograph attached.”
Audrey opened it.
It showed her and Dominic as children.
Standing together.
At a summer picnic.
Neither remembered meeting the other.
On the back was a date.
May you like
And beneath it:
THEY WERE MEANT TO FIND EACH OTHER.
