Chapter 5 - THE PERSON WAITING IN THE HALLWAYWe ran upstairs.
The hallway was dark.
Mom screamed from the kitchen.
Dad grabbed a flashlight.
I heard footsteps near the front door.
Then silence.
The door stood open.
No one there.
I looked outside.
Fresh tire tracks cut through the grass.
“They're gone.”
The stranger shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed upstairs.
“They never came through the front.”
We followed his gaze.
At the end of the hallway, my mother's bedroom door was slightly open.
Dad whispered,
“Stay behind me.”
We entered.
The room was empty.
Then Mom pointed at the mirror.
“There.”
A tiny red light blinked beneath it.
A camera.
Someone had installed it inside the house.
I stepped backward.
“How long?”
The stranger removed it from the wall.
“Long enough.”
Dad stared.
“Our whole house has been watched?”
“Probably.”
Mom sat on the bed.
Her hands trembled.
“Why would anyone watch us?”
The stranger looked at me.
“Because your family was never as ordinary as you thought.”
I wanted to scream.
“Stop speaking in riddles.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
He pulled out a chair.
“Twenty years ago, your father worked for a financial company.”
Dad looked away.
“Stop.”
“You don't get to decide that anymore.”
I turned toward my father.
“What company?”
He said nothing.
The stranger answered.
“Northbridge.”
I searched my memory.
“What's Northbridge?”
“An investment firm.”
Dad finally spoke.
“I was an accountant.”
The stranger shook his head.
“You were more than that.”
Dad's face hardened.
“I made mistakes.”
“What kind?”
“Financial mistakes.”
The stranger looked at me.
“Your father discovered that Northbridge was moving money through fake family accounts.”
I swallowed.
“And he helped them.”
Dad closed his eyes.
“I was nineteen years old.”
“You were thirty-two.”
Dad didn't respond.
The stranger continued.
“When your father tried to leave, Northbridge threatened him.”
“With what?”
“With your family.”
I felt cold.
“You mean us?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
Dad looked at me.
“Because I thought keeping you ignorant kept you safe.”
I stared at him.
“So you stole my money?”
“I was paying debts.”
“You stole my identity.”
“I never did that.”
“You signed documents.”
“I was forced.”
“Then who was the woman at the bank?”
The stranger went silent.
Dad whispered,
“Maya.”
“You know her.”
He nodded.
“She worked for Northbridge.”
The pieces started connecting.
The fake letters.
The fake withdrawals.
The identity theft.
The surveillance.
The woman who looked like me.
“Why did she pretend to be me?”
The stranger looked directly into my eyes.
“Because three years ago, your father told Northbridge that you were finally leaving.”
I stared at Dad.
“What?”
“I was trying to negotiate your freedom.”
“But you told them about me.”
He swallowed.
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“I thought they would leave you alone.”
The stranger sighed.
“They did.”
“For three years.”
“Yes.”
“Then why now?”
He looked at the bank documents.
“Because someone has started taking money out of the accounts again.”
My heart sank.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Everything.”
He pulled out a final document.
A transfer request.
The amount made me dizzy.
$500,000.
Recipient:
Taylor Hayes Trust
Date:
Tomorrow.
I looked at him.
“I don't have a trust.”
“You do now.”
“Who created it?”
The stranger said,
“Your father.”
Dad stepped forward.
“I wanted to give you something back.”
“You created a half-million-dollar trust in my name?”
“I was trying to protect your inheritance.”
“Inheritance from what?”
He looked at me.
Then his eyes filled with fear.
“From the money Northbridge stole.”
I felt the room tilt.
The stranger stood.
“There's one more problem.”
“What?”
“The trust isn't protecting your money.”
May you like
He looked at my father.
“It's being used to move theirs.”
