Chapter 5 - PROJECT MERIDIANThe photograph changed everything.
Robert hadn't been afraid of Derek.
He had been expecting him.
That meant Derek's involvement began long before Joselyn met him.
I spent the night reading Robert's notebooks.
Project Meridian appeared in every one.
It wasn't a company.
It wasn't an investment.
It was an investigation.
Years earlier, Robert discovered that a group of financial criminals had been using legitimate businesses to move stolen money.
Weber Engineering had been one of their targets.
Vanessa had been involved.
But Robert had stopped them.
Or so I thought.
The notebooks told a different story.
Robert had suspected that the operation reached far beyond Vanessa.
Bankers.
Accountants.
Lawyers.
Business owners.
And one person inside our own family.
I read the line three times.
Potential family access point: J. Weber
Joselyn.
My daughter.
I shut the notebook.
"No."
Sandra looked at me.
"What?"
"Robert suspected Joselyn."
"He may have been protecting her."
"Or watching her."
We kept reading.
Robert had documented several unexplained financial transfers involving Joselyn's accounts when she was in college.
At first, I thought they were normal.
Then I saw the amounts.
Five thousand.
Ten thousand.
Fifteen thousand.
The money wasn't from me.
Someone else had been depositing it.
I remembered those years.
Joselyn had seemed unusually secretive.
I had assumed she was simply growing up.
Robert had clearly believed otherwise.
Then came the final entry.
Dated three days before his death.
Derek Hale identified as Meridian asset.
I stopped.
Derek.
Before he met Joselyn.
I looked at Sandra.
"Why would he be interested in my daughter?"
She read the entry.
"Maybe because of you."
That answer was simple.
And terrifying.
Robert had spent years protecting something.
Something valuable enough to kill for.
And now Derek had entered our family to get it.
I called Joselyn again.
This time she answered.
Her voice was low.
"Mom?"
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Are you with Derek?"
Silence.
"Joselyn."
"No."
"Then who are you with?"
Another pause.
"Someone who knew Dad."
My heart slammed against my ribs.
"Who?"
"I can't say."
"You need to come home."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because they'll kill you."
The word hung in the air.
Not hurt you.
Not threaten you.
Kill you.
I whispered:
"Who?"
Joselyn started crying.
"I found Dad's files."
"Where?"
"At Derek's office."
"What did you find?"
"A video."
"What video?"
"Of Dad."
I stood.
"What does it show?"
"Dad met Derek six months before he died."
I looked at Sandra.
She went still.
"What happened?"
Joselyn's breathing became unsteady.
"They argued."
"About what?"
"Meridian."
Then I heard another voice in the background.
A man's voice.
Joselyn whispered:
"I have to go."
"Joselyn, wait!"
The call ended.
I called back.
Nothing.
Then my phone rang from an unknown number.
A man's voice said:
"You should have left this alone."
"Who is this?"
"You know who I am."
I froze.
"Derek?"
He laughed softly.
"No, Frances."
The voice lowered.
"I'm your dead husband's old friend."
I felt my blood turn cold.
"Who?"
His response came slowly.
"The man Robert trusted most."
Then the line went dead.
Sandra looked at me.
"Who was it?"
"I don't know."
But I knew one thing.
Robert had not died because of an accident.
Someone had killed him.
And whoever that person was, they were still watching me.
The next morning, police called.
They had found Derek's SUV.
Abandoned beside an old warehouse.
Inside was blood.
A lot of it.
And on the driver's seat was Derek's phone.
The final outgoing message had been sent to me.
May you like
It contained only four words.
ASK YOUR DAUGHTER ABOUT MERIDIAN.
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