Chapter 6
Marcus did not open the gate.
He did not speak through the intercom either.
Instead, he told everyone to move away from the windows.
Rachel took Lily upstairs.
Emma stayed beside the security monitor.
The woman outside waited.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
Then she raised her phone.
Emma’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
Marcus looked at her.
“Don’t answer.”
Emma stared at the screen.
The woman smiled toward the camera again.
The ringing stopped.
A message appeared.
YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW OWES PEOPLE MONEY.
Another.
YOUR HUSBAND OWES PEOPLE LOYALTY.
Then a third.
YOU SHOULD ASK WHAT HE PROMISED.
Emma’s stomach dropped.
Daniel was still connected on the laptop.
“What does that mean?” she demanded.
Daniel looked shaken.
“I don’t know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I swear.”
The woman at the gate typed again.
LILY DESERVES A BETTER FAMILY.
Emma’s fear became rage.
Marcus took a photo of the number.
“Police are coming.”
The woman looked down the road.
Then turned.
A car appeared.
Not the Tahoe.
A gray sedan.
She got in.
They drove away.
Marcus did not follow.
“Why aren’t you going after them?” Emma asked.
“Because that could be exactly what they want.”
Emma hated that he was right.
Rachel came downstairs.
“Lily didn’t see her.”
“Good.”
Daniel’s voice came from the laptop.
“Emma, I need to come there.”
“No.”
“This is about me.”
“That is exactly why you should stay away.”
“I can help.”
Emma laughed bitterly.
“You can start by answering the message.”
“I don’t know what they mean.”
Marcus stepped toward the laptop.
“Mr. Bennett, have you ever promised Victor anything besides money?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Access?”
“No.”
“Information?”
“No.”
“Contracts?”
“No.”
Marcus stared.
Daniel’s eyes shifted.
Emma saw it.
“What?”
Daniel swallowed.
“There was one conversation.”
Her heart sank.
“Of course there was.”
“It wasn’t a promise.”
“What was it?”
“Victor asked about a development site.”
Emma frowned.
“Which one?”
“Ridgeway.”
Emma stood.
The Ridgeway project was one of Bennett Development’s biggest future deals.
One hundred forty acres.
Retail.
Housing.
Medical offices.
The land acquisition was confidential.
“How did Victor know about Ridgeway?”
Daniel looked down.
“He heard Peter mention it.”
Emma shook her head.
“Peter wouldn’t casually mention Ridgeway.”
“I know that now.”
“What did Victor want?”
“To know when we expected to close.”
“And you told him?”
“No.”
Daniel hesitated.
Emma’s voice sharpened.
“What did you tell him?”
“I said we were still acquiring parcels.”
“That is confidential.”
“I know.”
“What else?”
“He asked whether we had all the owners committed.”
Emma stared at him.
“And?”
“I told him one holdout remained.”
Marcus looked at Emma.
“Why does that matter?”
Emma answered without taking her eyes off Daniel.
“Because if an outsider knows which parcel we still need, they can buy it first.”
Daniel nodded miserably.
“That’s what happened.”
Emma’s mouth went dry.
“What?”
“The holdout sold last month.”
“To who?”
“A private LLC.”
Emma walked closer to the laptop.
“Name.”
“Blue Cedar Holdings.”
She had heard that name.
Robert mentioned it during a project call.
Blue Cedar had suddenly acquired twelve acres in the center of the planned Ridgeway development.
Bennett Development had offered seven million.
Blue Cedar demanded twenty-two.
Emma felt sick.
“Victor owns Blue Cedar.”
Daniel whispered, “I think so.”
“You think so?”
“Peter implied it.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
Emma’s voice trembled.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I was trying to negotiate privately.”
“You were negotiating with the people blackmailing our company?”
“I didn’t know they were blackmailing us!”
“They used information you gave them to buy the property!”
“I didn’t realize until later.”
“Then when you realized, you hid it.”
Daniel slammed his hand onto the desk.
“Because I was ashamed!”
Emma went silent.
Daniel’s face twisted.
“I made one stupid comment at dinner. One. Victor used it. Peter knew. Mom’s money was already gone. I thought if I could fix Ridgeway, get Blue Cedar to sell, recover Mom’s investment, then no one had to know.”
Marcus spoke calmly.
“And what did they want in exchange?”
Daniel looked at him.
“For the land?”
“Yes.”
Daniel hesitated.
Emma closed her eyes.
“There is always more.”
Daniel whispered, “They wanted a partnership.”
Emma opened her eyes.
“What percentage?”
“Twenty percent of Ridgeway.”
Emma laughed in disbelief.
“That would be worth tens of millions.”
“I said no.”
“Then?”
“They asked for access to future acquisitions.”
“What does that mean?”
“First opportunity to invest.”
Emma stared.
“You were going to let them front-run company projects.”
“No.”
“But you considered it.”
“For about five minutes.”
“That is five minutes too long.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I was trying to save the company.”
“You were trying to save yourself.”
The words sat between them.
Daniel looked like she had punched him.
Maybe she had.
Emotionally.
But Emma was done protecting him from consequences.
The police arrived.
Two detectives spoke to Marcus first.
Then Emma.
She showed them the messages.
The tracker.
Security footage.
The Tahoe.
The woman impersonating Evelyn.
One detective, Laura Chen, asked about Victor.
Emma explained.
Laura took notes.
“Do you know Victor’s current location?”
“No.”
“We’ll identify him.”
Daniel spoke from the laptop.
“I have an address.”
Everyone looked at him.
Emma almost laughed.
“Of course you do.”
Daniel ignored it.
He gave them Victor’s office address.
“And his house?” Laura asked.
“I’ve been there once.”
Emma turned sharply.
“You went to his house?”
Daniel’s face fell.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“Why?”
“A dinner.”
“With Peter?”
“Yes.”
“And Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone else?”
Daniel thought.
“Two women. One man I didn’t know.”
Laura wrote it down.
“Do you remember names?”
“One woman was called Nadia. The man was Cole or Colin.”
“Last names?”
“No.”
Emma looked at Marcus.
“What?”
He had reacted to the name.
“Nothing yet.”
“Marcus.”
He sighed.
“There’s a Victor Salazar who appears in several financial fraud investigations.”
Daniel went pale.
“Fraud?”
“Not convicted.”
“For what?”
“Investment schemes. Property flips. Shell corporations.”
Emma stared at Daniel.
“You gave this man company information.”
Daniel whispered, “I didn’t know.”
Marcus continued.
“Victor usually stays insulated. Partners take the fall.”
“Peter,” Emma said.
“Possibly.”
Evelyn too.
Daniel too.
Emma’s family had been useful pieces.
Laura asked Daniel to come to the station voluntarily.
He agreed.
Emma watched him disconnect.
For the first time, she wondered whether Daniel might actually be arrested.
Not someday.
Today.
Rachel touched her arm.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
Emma almost smiled.
Then Carol called.
The attorney sounded breathless.
“We found the access footage.”
Emma straightened.
“Who logged into your system?”
“A woman.”
“Name?”
“Visitor records say Nadia Pierce.”
Marcus turned.
Emma put the phone on speaker.
Carol continued.
“She arrived claiming she had a meeting with Peter Lang.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“The same day your account accessed Lily’s trust?”
“Yes.”
“Did Peter escort her?”
“No. Security badge logs show she was alone for eleven minutes.”
Marcus asked, “Can you send a photograph?”
Carol did.
A headshot from visitor registration appeared.
Emma looked at the woman.
Dark hair.
Different clothing.
Different makeup.
But the face.
Same eyes.
Same nose.
Marcus zoomed.
It was the woman who had stood outside Rachel’s gate disguised as Evelyn.
“Nadia,” Emma whispered.
Marcus nodded.
Carol continued.
“There’s more.”
Emma almost did not want to ask.
“What?”
“After Nadia left, someone accessed the digital trust file again from an external IP address.”
“Whose login?”
Carol hesitated.
“Daniel’s.”
Emma’s eyes closed.
Marcus looked at her.
“Was Daniel authorized to access it?”
“No.”
Carol answered more carefully.
“He had inherited limited estate portal access from an old household account.”
Emma opened her eyes.
“Could he access Lily’s documents?”
“He should not have been able to.”
“But someone did.”
“Yes.”
Emma’s head spun.
“From where?”
“We traced the IP.”
Marcus leaned closer.
“To where?”
Carol took a breath.
“Evelyn’s house.”
Emma said nothing.
Rachel swore.
Marcus remained still.
That meant someone at Evelyn’s house had downloaded Lily’s trust documents three months ago.
Daniel?
Evelyn?
Peter?
Nadia?
Emma immediately called Daniel.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
She called Evelyn.
No answer.
Fear hit differently this time.
Not for Evelyn’s feelings.
For what she knew.
Emma called security at Evelyn’s neighborhood.
Then police.
Detective Chen was already en route to the station.
She diverted an officer.
Marcus grabbed his keys.
“I’ll go.”
Emma stood.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Marcus.”
“You stay with Lily.”
Emma looked upstairs.
Every instinct split in two directions.
Protect Lily.
Find the truth.
Protect Lily won.
Always.
“Call me the second you know anything.”
Marcus left.
Thirty minutes passed.
Then forty.
Daniel finally called.
“I’m at the station.”
Emma exhaled.
“Why didn’t you answer?”
“They took my phone during intake.”
“Your mother isn’t answering.”
“I talked to her twenty minutes ago.”
“What did she say?”
“She sounded scared.”
“Did she mention someone coming over?”
“No.”
Emma walked toward the study window.
“Daniel, three months ago someone downloaded Lily’s trust documents from your mother’s house using your login.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Were you there?”
“No.”
“Were you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Where were you?”
“Chicago. Company conference.”
Emma remembered.
He had been gone four days.
“Did Evelyn know your password?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Yes.”
Emma’s stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“She used my laptop sometimes.”
“Did she know the portal existed?”
“I don’t know.”
Marcus called.
Emma answered immediately.
“I’m at Evelyn’s.”
His voice sounded wrong.
“What happened?”
“The front door was open.”
Emma gripped the phone.
“Is she there?”
“Yes.”
“Is she okay?”
A pause.
“Physically.”
“What does that mean?”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“The house has been torn apart.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“Robbery?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Jewelry is still here. Electronics too.”
“What did they take?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Then Emma heard Evelyn screaming in the background.
Not crying.
Screaming.
“My papers! They took my papers!”
Emma’s skin chilled.
“What papers?”
Marcus asked Evelyn.
Her voice came through.
“The investment contracts!”
Emma sat down.
Victor’s contracts.
The evidence.
Marcus came back on.
“There’s something else.”
Emma almost laughed because everyone kept saying that.
“What?”
“We found a hidden camera in Evelyn’s study.”
Emma stared at the wall.
“How long has it been there?”
“We don’t know.”
“And what was it watching?”
“The desk.”
“Why?”
Marcus paused.
“Evelyn says Daniel signed documents at that desk three months ago.”
Emma stopped breathing.
Daniel heard through the second call.
“What documents?” she asked.
Daniel went silent.
Emma’s voice dropped.
“Daniel.”
“I thought they were refinancing papers for Mom.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“Did you read them?”
“Not all of them.”
“You signed documents without reading them?”
“She was crying. She said the bank deadline was that day.”
Emma could barely speak.
“How many signatures?”
“Maybe eight.”
Marcus swore quietly.
Emma finally understood.
They did not need to forge Daniel’s signature.
He had given them originals.
Multiple originals.
On documents he never read.
And somewhere inside those pages could be anything.
A loan guarantee.
A transfer.
An authorization.
A confession.
Or worse.
Emma whispered, “Daniel, what exactly did you sign?”
His voice cracked.
May you like
“I don’t know.”
And for the first time all day, Emma believed him.
