Chapter 4 - The Night My Father DisappearedThe stranger was arrested.
He gave the police a name.
Elias Grant.
According to Matthews, that name appeared nowhere in official records connected to my family.
That made me trust him less.
It also made me want answers more.
Elias refused to speak until I agreed to talk to him.
So I did.
Behind reinforced glass, he looked older than he had in the photographs.
His eyes were tired.
Not dangerous.
Guilty.
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You worked with him?”
“Yes.”
“What were you doing?”
“Protecting people.”
I laughed.
“That's vague.”
“It has to be.”
“Why did you monitor my family?”
“I wasn't monitoring your family.”
“You were photographing us.”
“I was monitoring your mother.”
That stopped me.
“Why?”
“She was moving money.”
“Illegal money?”
“Stolen money.”
“How much?”
“Millions.”
I stared through the glass.
“My mother isn't capable of that.”
Elias gave me a sad smile.
“You still think you know your mother.”
He slid a photograph across the table.
It showed Linda meeting several men at a restaurant.
One of them was my father.
Another was Elias.
A third man had his face scratched out.
“Who is that?”
“You don't want to know.”
“I already know enough.”
“No.”
He leaned closer.
“That man controls Bellmont Holdings.”
“Who?”
Elias whispered one name.
I had heard it before.
Robert Vale.
A wealthy businessman.
A philanthropist.
A man whose name was everywhere.
He had donated money to hospitals.
Sponsored universities.
Appeared on television.
I looked at Elias.
“What does he have to do with my family?”
“Everything.”
He explained what he believed happened.
Twenty years earlier, my father discovered that Bellmont Holdings was being used to hide stolen funds.
He attempted to expose it.
Before he could, my mother was approached.
They threatened me.
They threatened Derek.
They told her that if my father talked, we would disappear.
My mother agreed to cooperate.
But my father refused.
So he vanished.
I shook my head.
“You're telling me my mother helped them?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she stay with us?”
“She was trapped.”
“No.”
“She made choices.”
That distinction hurt.
“What happened the night my father disappeared?”
Elias looked down.
“He tried to leave.”
“And?”
“He was followed.”
“By who?”
“Robert Vale's people.”
“Did my mother know?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
I remembered rain.
A door slamming.
My father shouting.
My mother crying.
Derek standing at the staircase.
Me hiding behind the wall.
Then nothing.
“What happened afterward?”
Elias swallowed.
“Your father was taken.”
“Did he die that night?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
“His car was driven off a bridge.”
“But the body wasn't identified.”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because I saw what happened.”
He looked at me.
“I was the driver of the car following him.”
My blood turned cold.
“You killed him?”
“No.”
“But you were there.”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
“I should have stopped it.”
Silence filled the room.
Then I asked the question that had haunted me since childhood.
“Why didn't my mother tell us?”
Elias' answer was quiet.
“Because the deal continued.”
“What deal?”
“She agreed to move the money through a company registered in your name.”
I felt sick.
“Bellmont Holdings.”
“Yes.”
“And Derek?”
“He was brought into it years later.”
“My brother?”
“He started moving money for them.”
“No.”
“He was drowning in debt.”
Elias leaned closer.
“They offered to erase it.”
I remembered Derek's desperation.
His gambling.
His sudden expensive clothes.
The endless requests for money.
Then the SUV.
“What was inside my car?”
Elias looked at me for a long moment.
“Your father left something.”
“What?”
“Evidence.”
“Where?”
“You already had it.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“The envelope.”
He nodded.
“What was in it?”
“A recording.”
My mouth went dry.
“Of what?”
“My father's final conversation.”
“With whom?”
Elias didn't answer.
“Tell me.”
He looked toward the camera in the corner.
Then back at me.
“With your mother.”
My entire body went cold.
“What did she say?”
Elias whispered:
“She gave the order.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My mother ordered my father's death?”
“She told them to make him disappear.”
“No.”
“I heard her.”
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
He leaned closer.
“And that's why Derek attacked you.”
“Because of the recording?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Elias looked directly into my eyes.
“Because your brother had already heard it.”
The door opened behind him.
A guard walked in.
“Time.”
I stood.
Elias grabbed the edge of the table.
“One more thing.”
I turned.
His expression was terrified.
“Your mother doesn't know the recording survived.”
I stared at him.
“Then who sent it to me?”
Elias shook his head.
“I don't know.”
My phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
May you like
One sentence.
Ask your brother what happened to the second envelope.
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