Chapter 9 - The Last AccountI refused to believe Daniel.
Not for one second.
But my mother did.
She finally confessed the truth.
Twenty-nine years earlier, Daniel had stolen genetic samples from the company laboratory.
Samples belonging to himself.
My mother had discovered them and tried to destroy them.
She failed.
Years later, Richard unknowingly became part of the same experiment.
When I became pregnant, Daniel believed the child carried his genetic material because of an illegal fertility manipulation.
But my mother revealed the truth.
Daniel wasn't Grace's father.
Richard was.
Daniel had lied because he needed me to believe Grace was biologically valuable to him.
The real value was something else.
The bracelet.
My father's final encryption.
It contained the coordinates to the hidden account.
The password wasn't my mother's memory.
It was mine.
A childhood memory.
Something my father had taught me when I was six.
A nursery rhyme.
The melody contained a numerical pattern.
I remembered it.
Michael helped decode it.
The account opened.
Eight hundred million dollars.
But there was another file.
A video.
My father again.
“Abigail, if you've reached this point, Daniel has found you.”
He looked terrified.
“The money was never the real weapon.”
He leaned toward the camera.
“The account contains evidence.”
Names.
Politicians.
Judges.
Bankers.
Generals.
Executives.
Everyone connected to Daniel.
The data could collapse governments.
My father had built the account as a dead-man switch.
If anyone accessed it incorrectly, the evidence would be automatically released.
I stared at Michael.
“What do we do?”
He looked toward the screen.
“Release it.”
“Then everything burns.”
“Yes.”
Before we could act, the system displayed:
ONE USER ALREADY LOGGED IN.
Richard.
My blood went cold.
The hospital security feed appeared.
Richard was gone.
Again.
Michael stared.
“He played us.”
A text appeared on the screen.
I HAVE YOUR DAUGHTER.
Then a video.
Grace asleep in a room.
Richard sat beside her.
Alive.
Smiling.
I felt rage.
“Richard.”
He looked into the camera.
“Abigail.”
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere Daniel can't reach me.”
“You kidnapped our daughter.”
“I saved her.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Richard lowered his head.
“Because I knew Daniel would come for her.”
“You could have told me.”
“You would never have let me take her.”
“Because she's my daughter.”
“I know.”
Tears appeared in his eyes.
“I failed you once.”
His voice broke.
“I wasn't going to fail her twice.”
I wanted to believe him.
But then the door behind him opened.
Daniel walked into the room.
Richard turned.
His face changed.
Daniel raised a gun.
The screen went black.
I screamed.
“Richard!”
Michael immediately traced the transmission.
“We have the location.”
We reached the warehouse before dawn.
Federal agents surrounded the building.
Inside, Daniel stood beside a table.
Grace was in a crib.
Richard was tied to a chair.
My mother stood beside Daniel.
I raised my weapon.
“Let my daughter go.”
Daniel smiled.
“Finally.”
My mother looked at me.
“I'm sorry.”
Daniel said:
“She always was.”
I glanced at Richard.
“Is she working with you?”
Richard shook his head.
“She's not.”
Daniel laughed.
“Your mother has spent thirty years waiting for this moment.”
My mother suddenly pulled a gun.
Not at me.
At Daniel.
She fired.
Daniel screamed.
Agents stormed the room.
Chaos erupted.
Richard broke free.
I ran to Grace.
I held her against my chest.
She opened her eyes.
And smiled.
Then Daniel shouted:
“Abigail!”
I turned.
He was bleeding.
One hand pressed against his shoulder.
“Your father never told you the final truth.”
I stared.
“What?”
He smiled.
“He didn't create the account.”
My mother froze.
Daniel continued:
“He stole it.”
My mother whispered:
“No.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Your father was the criminal.”
May you like
Then he laughed.
“And your mother knows exactly what I'm talking about.”
