Chapter 7 - THE COMPANY THAT NEVER CLOSEDMartin's office was empty.
The door was unlocked.
Lights were on.
His phone sat on the desk.
His coffee was still warm.
But Martin was gone.
Bella slowly walked inside.
“This is bad.”
I looked around.
Folders had been thrown everywhere.
A cabinet door was open.
One drawer had been ripped from its frame.
“Someone searched this place.”
I nodded.
Then I saw a red envelope on the desk.
My name was written across it.
LUKE BENNETT
I opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
My father's handwriting.
I recognized it immediately.
Luke,
If you are reading this, then they found the trust.
That means I was right to be afraid.
Do not trust your mother.
Do not trust Josh.
And above all, do not sign anything.
My hands trembled.
Bella leaned closer.
“Keep reading.”
The letter continued.
There is a company you have never heard of.
It was created before you were born.
It was never sold.
It controls the property, contracts, and accounts your family thinks belong to me.
They do not belong to them.
They belong to you.
I stopped.
Bella whispered:
“What company?”
The next line answered it.
Northstar Maritime Holdings.
I had never heard the name.
I kept reading.
David knows about it.
Your mother knows about it.
Josh may know.
If they ever discover its true value, they will come for you.
They will not ask.
They will manufacture a reason.
I looked at Bella.
“The cruise.”
She nodded.
The letter continued.
The cruise may appear insignificant.
It is not.
It is a test.
They need you angry enough to act recklessly.
They need you guilty enough to sign.
Once you do, the trust becomes accessible.
I felt cold.
Dad had predicted everything.
Then came the final paragraph.
There is one person you can trust.
Her name is Elena Mercer.
She is David's daughter.
Find her before they do.
I looked up.
“Mercer.”
Bella frowned.
“David Mercer?”
“His daughter.”
“Why would she help us?”
“I don't know.”
I turned the page.
There was one final sentence.
She knows who Josh really is.
The door slammed behind us.
I spun around.
A woman stood there.
Dark coat.
Brown hair.
Eyes fixed on me.
She said:
“Don't move.”
Bella grabbed my arm.
The woman stepped into the light.
She looked at the letter.
Then at me.
“You found it.”
I swallowed.
“Elena?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“I didn't.”
She looked toward the broken door.
“I followed the men who took Martin.”
“What men?”
She pulled a phone from her pocket.
“Those men.”
She showed me a photo.
The black SUV.
Then a second photograph.
Josh getting out of it.
I stared.
“My brother hired them?”
Elena shook her head.
“Josh doesn't have the power to hire them.”
“Then who does?”
She looked me directly in the eyes.
“Your mother.”
Bella stepped back.
“No.”
Elena nodded.
“Yes.”
I thought about the cruise.
The canceled rooms.
The family pressure.
The fake legal threat.
The forged document.
My mother's tears.
Maybe she wasn't trying to protect Josh.
Maybe Josh wasn't even the mastermind.
“Why?”
Elena looked at the letter.
“Because your mother knows what your father did to my family.”
“What did he do?”
“You really don't know?”
“No.”
She took a deep breath.
“Your father didn't save Josh from David.”
I frowned.
“He stole Josh.”
“What?”
“David wanted his son back.”
My stomach turned.
“My father kidnapped him?”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
May you like
She looked at me with something close to pity.
“Your mother did.”
