Chapter 8 - THE SECOND LEDGER THAT COULD DESTROY SILAS
The storage device contained enough financial information to keep investigators busy for months.
I sat beside Evelyn Shaw while a forensic accountant reviewed the files.
Dominic stood near the window.
Nobody spoke until the first report appeared.
The Mercer Children's Trust had been established fifteen years earlier.
Its purpose was simple.
To provide assistance to children harmed by violence associated with organized crime.
Medical treatment.
Education.
Housing.
Trauma counseling.
Support for children who had lost parents.
But the trust's accounts had been manipulated.
Money flowed into companies controlled by Silas Crane.
Some payments were disguised as consulting expenses.
Others were recorded as grants that never reached their intended recipients.
I stared at the totals.
"How much?"
The accountant took a breath.
"More than seventy million dollars in potentially improper transfers."
My stomach tightened.
Seventy million.
Taken from children who'd already suffered enough.
Dominic's expression hardened.
"Silas managed this trust?"
The accountant nodded.
"Through several intermediaries."
I thought about Audrey.
Her years of isolation.
Her father spending millions on specialists who couldn't communicate with her.
And the man responsible sitting beside them at dinner, pretending to care.
Then the accountant opened a folder labeled:
ELENA — FINAL AUDIT.
A video appeared.
Elena sat inside her office.
Her face was pale.
"I've traced the transfers," she said. "Silas isn't acting alone."
Dominic leaned forward.
Elena continued.
"Someone has been authorizing payments from inside the Vale organization."
The room went silent.
I swallowed.
"Who?"
The recording continued.
"The person helping him has access to Dominic's private security schedules."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
Only a handful of people had that access.
Silas.
His head of security.
And one senior lieutenant.
Then Elena said something unexpected.
"I don't believe Dominic knows."
Her voice broke.
"But I'm afraid he won't believe me until it's too late."
Dominic closed his eyes.
For a moment, he looked like a man carrying the weight of every conversation he'd failed to have with his wife.
Then Elena held another document toward the camera.
A payment authorization.
Two signatures appeared.
Silas Crane.
And Victor Vale.
Dominic's younger brother.
I slowly looked toward him.
He was staring at the screen.
"Victor?"
The name sounded almost unfamiliar in his mouth.
Then the video ended.
Evelyn opened the accompanying ledger.
Several payments had gone to a private security contractor shortly before the bombing.
The authorizing executive was Victor Vale.
My hands went cold.
"Your brother?"
Dominic nodded slowly.
For years, he'd believed Victor was the only person who loved Audrey almost as much as he did.
Now the records suggested Victor had helped finance the operation that killed her mother.
Then Dominic received a message from the mansion.
Audrey's caregiver had discovered something.
The little girl had been drawing pictures all afternoon.
Every picture showed the same man.
A tall figure with a silver watch.
Standing beside Silas.
May you like
And beneath the final drawing, Audrey had written three words.
UNCLE VICTOR HELPED.
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