Chapter 9 - The Arrest
For the first time, I understood how far my father was willing to go.
They didn't arrest me.
Not yet.
But they searched my house.
My garage.
My computers.
My vehicle records.
Elena kept reminding me to say nothing.
The police found the forged contracts.
The problem was obvious.
The documents were forged.
But until forensic examination proved that, the suspicion remained.
At four in the morning, I sat at my workbench watching officers photograph my tools.
Every item looked like evidence.
Every part of my life had become someone else's case file.
Then one officer called me over.
“We found something.”
He held up a sealed bag.
Inside was a USB drive.
My name was written on it.
But I'd never seen it.
The officer said it had been found inside my office drawer.
Elena took one look.
“That isn't hers.”
“How do you know?”
“Because that drawer wasn't there yesterday.”
Everyone stared at her.
She pointed.
“The desk.”
I looked.
My father had sent me that desk three months earlier.
I had barely used it.
“Can we open it?” I asked.
The officer nodded after checking with his supervisor.
Inside were transaction records.
Wire transfers.
Payments.
Fake invoices.
And one account number connected to Meridian Capital.
My name appeared repeatedly.
I felt sick.
Someone had staged the entire drawer.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message.
They'll blame you for everything.
Another.
Ask your mother what happened in 2004.
I stared at the screen.
Elena saw it.
“Don't respond.”
But the year stuck in my head.
I searched old company records.
That was the year my uncle disappeared.
Then I found a document I'd never seen.
An insurance policy.
Life insurance.
Ethan Carter.
Beneficiary:
David Carter.
The policy had been activated six weeks before Ethan disappeared.
Elena stared at it.
“This changes things.”
“How?”
“If your father received a payout after Ethan vanished, we need the claim records.”
We contacted the insurer.
They sent documents.
No payout.
Because Ethan had never been declared dead.
I frowned.
“Then where did the life insurance go?”
Elena looked at me.
“Maybe it didn't.”
“Then why did Dad tell everyone Ethan abandoned us?”
“Because a missing partner is easier to explain than a stolen partner.”
I couldn't stop thinking about the recordings.
Dad's threat.
The forged transfers.
The tracker.
Ava disappearing.
My mother missing.
Then a call came from Logan.
“I found her.”
My heart jumped.
“Where?”
“At an old motel outside Golden.”
We drove there.
My mother was sitting in a dark room.
She looked exhausted.
She hugged me immediately.
“I'm sorry.”
I held her.
“Tell me what happened.”
She pulled away.
“Your father found out I was talking to Elena.”
“So he took you?”
“He followed me.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“What happened in 2004?”
She closed her eyes.
“Your uncle didn't disappear.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“He was attacked.”
“By Dad?”
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
She looked at me.
“I saw your father that night.”
The room went silent.
“What did you see?”
“Ethan was bleeding.”
She began crying.
“Your father was standing over him.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What happened after?”
“I ran.”
“And Ethan?”
“I don't know.”
Elena asked:
“Did you call the police?”
“No.”
“Why?”
My mother stared at the floor.
“Because David told me he'd make sure Willow disappeared too.”
I felt cold all over.
For twenty-two years, my mother had carried that secret.
She had protected me by staying silent.
Or perhaps she had been too afraid to do anything else.
Then she reached into her bag.
She handed me a photograph.
It showed my father beside a hospital entrance.
The date was visible.
And beside him stood my uncle Ethan.
Alive.
I stared at the image.
Then my mother whispered:
May you like
“He didn't disappear.”
“He escaped.”
