Chapter 7 - THE DEAD WIFE WHO WALKED INTO THE LIGHT
Victoria Drake had been dead for eight years.
Julian Mercer had been dead for seven.
Yet both had appeared in the same security photograph less than an hour earlier.
Nathan stared at the image.
His hands curled into fists.
“Where was this taken?”
Marcus answered.
“A commercial building on Wacker Drive.”
Nathan stood.
“Get the car.”
I stepped forward.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
I stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
“Bella, these people are dangerous.”
“And they've been controlling my life since before I was born.”
Nathan hesitated.
I continued.
“My mother died carrying their secrets. I deserve answers.”
For several seconds, we looked at each other.
Then Nathan nodded.
“But we involve the authorities. No reckless confrontation.”
That surprised me.
The man I'd met in the penthouse would have demanded obedience.
This man was beginning to listen.
We met with federal investigator Daniel Brooks, who had been reviewing suspicious transactions connected to Drake Harbor Logistics.
When he saw the photograph, his expression changed.
“Julian Mercer,” he muttered.
“You know him?” I asked.
“We've been looking for him for years.”
Brooks opened a case file.
“Julian was suspected of laundering millions through shipping contracts. Victoria Drake was identified as a possible accomplice, but her apparent death ended that line of investigation.”
Nathan looked furious.
“And nobody told me?”
Brooks met his eyes.
“Mr. Drake, your own companies were under scrutiny.”
Nathan said nothing.
The investigator continued.
“We have reason to believe someone has been manipulating your business accounts for nearly a decade.”
I stared at the documents.
“What does that have to do with my mother?”
Brooks opened another photograph.
It showed Hannah Carter standing outside the Wacker Drive building.
The photograph was dated six weeks earlier.
My heart stopped.
“Mom was there?”
Brooks nodded.
“She contacted our office using a protected reporting channel.”
I covered my mouth.
“She never told me.”
“She said she had evidence of a financial conspiracy.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“What evidence?”
Brooks hesitated.
“She claimed someone had been using Mr. Drake's identity to authorize illegal transfers.”
Nathan's expression changed.
“And?”
“She also claimed Victoria Drake wasn't acting alone.”
I swallowed.
“Who was helping her?”
Brooks opened the next document.
A name appeared.
DEBBIE MORGAN.
May you like
My hotel supervisor.
The woman who had sent me into Nathan's penthouse.
