Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEWGrant did not sleep.
Neither did Audrey.
For three hours, they sat in the hotel room while Caleb slept between them.
Finally, Audrey began to speak.
“Your father came to me one week before he died.”
Grant listened.
“He asked if I trusted Lenora.”
“What did you say?”
“I said yes.”
Audrey looked down.
“I was wrong.”
She explained everything.
Three years ago, she had discovered financial records hidden inside one of Grant's father's old offices.
Large transfers.
Shell companies.
Payments that had no business explanation.
At first, Audrey thought it was corporate tax planning.
Then she noticed something.
Several payments were made on the same days Lenora had demanded money from Grant.
“She was moving company funds?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why did she need my father?”
Audrey hesitated.
“Because he found out.”
Grant leaned forward.
“What happened next?”
“Your father became scared.”
“Scared of Lenora?”
“Scared of someone else.”
“Who?”
Audrey shook her head.
“He didn't tell me.”
Grant's voice sharpened.
“You wrote him a letter.”
“Because he asked me to.”
“What did it say?”
“I told him I had seen Lenora meeting someone.”
“Who?”
“I didn't know.”
Grant stood.
“What did the person look like?”
“A man.”
“Name?”
“No.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father made me promise.”
Grant stared at her.
“He made you promise not to tell your husband?”
“He said you were being watched.”
Grant's anger faded.
“What?”
“He believed your phones had been compromised.”
Audrey's voice trembled.
“He told me if I told you, whoever was watching might realize he was onto them.”
Grant sat back down.
“Why did he trust you?”
“Because I was outside your family's business.”
She looked at him.
“I wasn't supposed to be important enough to notice anything.”
Grant looked toward the window.
For three years, he had believed his father died suddenly.
Now he was beginning to wonder whether “suddenly” had been the right word.
Then his phone rang.
David.
Grant answered.
“Tell me.”
“We found something.”
“What?”
“The man your father was meeting.”
Grant stood.
“Who?”
David took a breath.
“Your mother's attorney.”
Grant's stomach tightened.
“That makes no sense.”
“It gets worse.”
“How?”
“The attorney died six months ago.”
“Dead?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Grant went silent.
David continued.
“We reopened the financial investigation. There were payments between his firm and one of your mother's private entities.”
Grant closed his eyes.
“Can you trace them?”
“We're trying.”
“Don't try.”
Grant's voice became steel.
“Trace them.”
“I will.”
Grant ended the call.
Audrey walked toward him.
“What's wrong?”
“My mother wasn't working alone.”
Audrey's eyes widened.
“I knew it.”
Grant looked at her.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
Before he could respond, headlights appeared outside the hotel.
A black sedan stopped across the street.
Grant watched.
The engine remained running.
The curtains moved slightly as he stepped closer to the glass.
The sedan remained there for five minutes.
Then ten.
Grant grabbed his coat.
“Lock the door.”
“Grant?”
“Do not open it for anyone.”
He stepped outside through the rear exit.
The parking lot was dark.
He moved around the building.
The sedan suddenly accelerated.
Grant ran toward the street.
Too late.
The car disappeared around the corner.
Then his phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A text.
You should have stayed out of the house.
Grant stared.
Another message arrived.
Your mother is only the beginning.
Then a third.
Ask Audrey what happened the night your father died.
Grant looked back at the hotel window.
Audrey stood there.
Holding Caleb.
Her face pale.
Grant walked back upstairs.
He opened the door.
“Audrey.”
She looked at him.
“Who was the last person to see my father alive?”
Her lips parted.
She didn't answer.
Grant waited.
Finally she whispered:
“Me.”
Grant froze.
“You?”
Audrey started crying.
“Your mother doesn't know.”
“What doesn't she know?”
Audrey looked toward the baby's crib.
Then back at Grant.
“I wasn't supposed to be there.”
“Why were you?”
“Your father called me.”
“What did he say?”
Audrey whispered:
“He told me to take something from his office.”
“What?”
“A flash drive.”
Grant's heart hammered.
“Where is it?”
Audrey looked terrified.
“I gave it to your mother.”
Grant went completely still.
“What?”
“She said she would protect you.”
“And you believed her?”
Audrey's tears fell.
“I was twenty-five.”
May you like
She whispered the final sentence.
“I didn't know she was the person I was supposed to be afraid of.”
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