Chapter 9 - The TrapDerek's apology had a hidden purpose
The next morning, Skylar's phone rang.
Derek.
She didn't answer.
He called again.
Then again.
Then an unknown number called.
Skylar answered reluctantly.
“Skylar?”
It was Derek's mother.
“Please listen.”
Skylar remained silent.
“Derek is broken.”
“He tried to ruin me.”
“He made a terrible mistake.”
“He burned my face.”
Her voice cracked.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Please meet me.”
“No.”
“Not for Derek.”
“For what?”
“I have something that belongs to you.”
“What?”
“You'll have to come.”
Skylar almost hung up.
Then the woman added:
“It concerns your grandmother.”
Skylar froze.
Her grandmother's jewelry had been among the things she removed from the apartment.
“What about my grandmother?”
“I found an old box.”
“Where?”
“At my house.”
Skylar immediately told Mara.
Mara's first answer was no.
Then they decided to arrange a controlled meeting.
Police would monitor nearby.
Skylar would wear a recording device.
She arrived at a cafe.
Derek's mother sat alone.
She placed a small box on the table.
Skylar opened it.
Inside was a photograph of her grandmother.
And behind it...
a handwritten note.
Skylar, trust no one in this family.
Skylar looked up.
“Where did this come from?”
His mother started crying.
“I should have told you years ago.”
“Told me what?”
“Derek wasn't the first.”
Skylar stared.
“Laura?”
She nodded.
“Before Laura, there was another woman.”
“Who?”
“I don't know her name.”
“Then what do you know?”
She leaned forward.
“Derek learned everything from his father.”
Skylar felt a chill.
“His father?”
“He taught Derek how to make people trust him.”
“How to steal?”
“How to hide.”
She glanced around.
“I thought it ended when his father died.”
“But it didn't.”
“No.”
She pushed the photograph toward Skylar.
“I found this in Derek's old room.”
It showed a much younger Derek.
Standing beside his father.
And three women.
Skylar recognized one immediately.
Laura.
The second woman looked familiar.
Skylar stared harder.
Then she realized why.
The woman was a former employee from the same insurance company where Derek worked.
The third was someone else.
Unknown.
Skylar took a photograph of the picture.
Then a shadow fell across the table.
Derek.
He had ignored the police warning and followed her.
Skylar stood.
“You shouldn't be here.”
He looked exhausted.
His face was pale.
“I just want to talk.”
“You've said enough.”
“Skylar, please.”
She stepped backward.
Derek lowered his voice.
“You don't understand what's happening.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You think Suzanne and I planned everything.”
“You did.”
“I was trying to fix things.”
“With my money?”
“With our money.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I never meant for it to go this far.”
“And my car?”
Derek went silent.
Skylar saw it.
That tiny hesitation.
That was enough.
“You did it.”
“No.”
“You hesitated.”
“I didn't touch your car.”
“Who did?”
His face changed.
Skylar whispered:
“Who?”
Before he answered, a police officer stepped out of the cafe.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Derek looked toward the exit.
Two officers blocked it.
He raised his hands.
But before they could reach him, he said something only Skylar could hear.
“They're going to kill Suzanne.”
Skylar froze.
“What?”
Derek looked terrified.
“Because she knows where the money went.”
Then he was handcuffed.
As police led him away, Skylar turned toward his mother.
Her face was white.
“What money?”
She whispered:
“The money your husband stole wasn't for gambling.”
Skylar stared.
“Then what was it for?”
His mother looked at the police.
Then back at Skylar.
“It was being sent overseas.”
“Where?”
She swallowed.
“To a man named Victor Kane.”
Skylar's blood turned cold.
Because Victor Kane was not a banker.
He was not a businessman.
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He was the man who had been convicted twelve years earlier for running an interstate financial fraud operation.
And Derek had been sending him money.
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