Chapter 6 - The InformantWe spent the next twelve hours uncovering pieces of a life my family had apparently buried on purpose.
The dead informant's name was Samuel Cross.
He had once worked with Daniel Rowe.
Then he became an informant for the federal government.
Then he vanished.
Officially, he was declared missing.
Unofficially, someone had been paying money into accounts connected to his name for years.
Agent Reed showed me bank records.
Payments.
Small at first.
Then larger.
All tied to shell companies.
One of those companies had been connected to Victor.
Another had been connected to my father's business.
And one had been registered to my mother.
I stared at the document.
“My mother never owned a company.”
“Apparently she did.”
“She lied.”
“Yes.”
I had spent my entire life believing my parents were boring.
Safe.
Ordinary.
The kind of people who complained about grocery prices and argued over parking spaces.
Now I was staring at evidence of secret companies and missing informants.
Trevor sat beside me.
“I need to tell you something.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“When Victor came to the marina, he wasn't interested in renting the boat.”
“What was he interested in?”
“The storage room.”
“Which one?”
Trevor hesitated.
“The one under the office.”
My heart sank.
“The secret room?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
He showed me the original property plans.
There was a basement beneath the marina.
A basement that had been sealed before he bought the building.
I looked at the blueprint.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't know.”
“Until now?”
He nodded.
Agent Reed took the blueprint.
“This may be important.”
They searched the basement that evening.
The entrance was hidden behind a wall panel.
Trevor broke it open.
Inside was a narrow staircase.
At the bottom was an old concrete room.
Empty.
Except for a metal safe.
The safe was sealed.
No combination.
No key.
Then I noticed something carved into the wall.
A triangle.
The same symbol from the ring.
Trevor touched it.
“This is the same one.”
Agent Reed photographed it.
Then I noticed something else.
Three letters.
A.B.
My initials.
My breath caught.
“Why are my initials here?”
Nobody answered.
Trevor found a metal lever beneath the letters.
He pulled it.
A section of the wall opened.
Inside was a small compartment.
There was a key.
A single key.
And a photograph of my grandparents.
On the back:
Only Audrey can open what your father locked.
I stared.
“Why me?”
Agent Reed looked at the key.
“Because whoever wrote this expected you to come.”
Trevor took the key.
It fit the safe.
The door opened.
Inside was not money.
It was a recording device.
Old.
But still intact.
Agent Reed connected it to her equipment.
A voice filled the room.
My grandfather.
I knew his voice immediately.
“If you're hearing this, Daniel is dead.”
My heart stopped.
“I made a mistake.”
The recording crackled.
“Your father believes he can control the situation.”
Another voice appeared.
My father's.
“You promised this would disappear.”
My grandfather replied:
“It will disappear when you return what you stole.”
My father shouted.
“I didn't steal anything!”
“You know where it is.”
“I don't.”
“You took the ledger.”
A pause.
Then my father whispered:
“Dad, I swear, I don't have it.”
My grandfather's voice became cold.
“Then why did Daniel accuse you?”
Silence.
Then a third voice.
Victor.
But younger.
Much younger.
He said:
“Because he knew the truth.”
I nearly stopped breathing.
Victor had known my family for years.
Before Khloe.
Before the engagement.
Before the luxury cars.
This was not a new relationship.
It was a plan.
The recording continued.
Victor said:
“The girl is the key.”
My blood ran cold.
My grandfather asked:
“Which girl?”
“Audrey.”
Trevor's hand tightened around mine.
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Finally Agent Reed said:
“We need to talk about your sister.”
“Khloe?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor's interest in her may have had nothing to do with romance.”
I felt sick.
“You think he targeted her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To get to you.”
I stared at her.
“Why me?”
Agent Reed looked at the photograph of my grandparents.
“Because someone believed your grandfather left something hidden in your name.”
The room went silent.
Then Trevor's phone rang.
He answered.
It was Khloe.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Audrey.”
“Where are you?”
“I'm not safe.”
“Who is with you?”
“No one.”
“Khloe, listen to me.”
“I found something.”
“What?”
She breathed heavily.
“Victor wasn't stealing money.”
I frowned.
“What was he stealing?”
“Names.”
“What names?”
“People who disappeared.”
I felt a chill.
Then she whispered:
“Audrey, I found Dad's old passport.”
“What about it?”
“It has a different name.”
“What's the name?”
Khloe hesitated.
Then said:
May you like
“Samuel Cross.”
The line went dead.
