Chapter 6
Morning came without sleep.
Madison sat on my parents’ couch with a blanket around her shoulders.
Her mother sat across the room.
They had barely spoken since the slap.
Logan was on the phone with attorneys and executives.
Dad and Daniel were in the study with federal investigators.
The kidnapping had changed everything.
Local police had brought in the FBI because the threats crossed state lines and involved suspected financial crimes.
I made coffee.
Madison didn’t drink hers.
At seven-thirty, Dad came out.
“Ethan.”
I stood.
Madison did too.
“What happened?”
Dad looked at her.
“We may have found the location where the photo was taken.”
Hope flashed across her face.
“Where?”
“An industrial building in Commerce.”
“Then go.”
“Teams are moving now.”
“I’m going too.”
“No.”
She glared at him.
Dad didn’t blink.
“You will stay here.”
“He’s my father.”
“That’s exactly why you’re staying.”
Madison looked at me.
I knew what she wanted.
“Your dad is right.”
Her eyes flashed.
“You too?”
“Yes.”
She walked away.
I followed her into the kitchen.
“Don’t.”
“I know you’re scared.”
“Do not tell me how I feel.”
“Okay.”
“My father might have hours.”
“I know.”
“And everyone keeps telling me to sit in this house.”
“Because running into a raid won’t help him.”
Her eyes filled.
“I need to do something.”
I understood that.
Helplessness was eating her alive.
So I thought.
Then remembered the folder Dad had brought me the previous night.
It was still in my car.
A project I had been working on.
Not related to Whitmore.
But maybe the skills were.
“I might have something.”
She looked at me.
“What?”
“Your family’s company systems.”
“What about them?”
“Who has access to them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Could you get access?”
“To Dad’s company?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Vale’s operation used shell companies, contracts, and internal information.”
I pulled out my phone.
“If somebody inside Whitmore helped him, there may be a trail.”
Madison stared.
“You think Logan?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You’re thinking it.”
“I’m thinking everyone.”
She looked toward the living room where her brother stood near the windows.
“I don’t want it to be him.”
“Neither do I.”
She took a breath.
“What do you need?”
“Login access.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Who does?”
“Dad. Logan. CFO. Finance team.”
“Your father ever work from home?”
“Yes.”
“Laptop?”
“In his office.”
We found Daniel.
He listened.
Then shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Police already seized Charles’s devices.”
“I don’t need his device.”
“What do you need?”
“Permission to examine company logs.”
Dad appeared in the doorway.
Daniel looked at him.
Dad asked me, “What are you thinking?”
I explained.
He listened without interrupting.
Then nodded.
“Good.”
Daniel looked annoyed.
“Richard.”
“He’s right.”
“He’s emotionally involved.”
Dad smiled faintly.
“So are half the people in this house.”
Daniel thought.
“I’ll ask the investigators.”
Thirty minutes later, we had a controlled workstation.
Whitmore’s CFO granted emergency access after Dad explained that Cole Capital was suspending all investment discussions pending review.
The company’s IT director joined by secure video.
I started looking.
Madison sat beside me.
Dad stood behind us.
At first, nothing.
Ordinary logins.
Ordinary file access.
Then I noticed something.
“What is that account?”
The IT director leaned closer.
“WDM_Admin2.”
“Who uses it?”
“No one should.”
Dad frowned.
“Should?”
“It’s an old administrative account.”
“Disabled?”
The director went quiet.
I checked the activity.
It had logged in eleven times during the last six months.
All after midnight.
I opened the access history.
Contracts.
Wire approvals.
Executive calendars.
Personal employee files.
And Charles Whitmore’s private schedule.
Madison whispered, “Oh my God.”
I looked at the source addresses.
Most were masked.
One wasn’t.
A company office.
“Which workstation is this?”
The IT director checked.
His face changed.
“Executive floor.”
“Who?”
He hesitated.
Dad spoke.
“Say it.”
“Vice president’s office.”
Madison stopped moving.
“Logan.”
We all looked toward the living room.
Her brother was still on the phone.
She stood.
I grabbed her wrist gently.
“Wait.”
“His computer accessed Dad’s calendar.”
“Maybe someone used his computer.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“I believe we need proof.”
She pulled away.
“Let me go.”
“Madison.”
She marched into the living room.
“Logan.”
He turned.
“Give me a second.”
“No.”
He lowered his phone.
“What?”
“Did you give Adrian access to company systems?”
His face went blank.
“What?”
“Answer me.”
“No.”
“Your office computer used an old admin account.”
Logan looked at Dad.
“You’re going through our systems?”
Dad answered.
“With authorization.”
“Whose?”
“Your CFO.”
Logan laughed.
“Fantastic.”
Madison stepped closer.
“Did you give Vale access?”
“No.”
“Did you know the account existed?”
“No.”
“Are you lying?”
His expression hardened.
“Watch yourself.”
She shoved him.
“Dad is missing!”
He stared at her.
“So you think I kidnapped him?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“Well, figure it out before you accuse me.”
The door opened.
Daniel walked in fast.
“Everyone stop.”
We looked at him.
His expression told us something had happened.
“The industrial location was empty.”
Madison went pale.
“What?”
“They found the chair from the photo.”
“Where’s Dad?”
“Gone.”
She covered her mouth.
Daniel continued.
“There was blood.”
Mrs. Whitmore gasped.
“How much?”
“Not enough to determine anything.”
Madison leaned against me.
Then Daniel looked at Logan.
“We need your phone.”
Logan stared.
“No.”
“It’s not optional.”
“Do you have a warrant?”
“Federal agents are getting one.”
“Then come back with it.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Your office workstation accessed files connected to the kidnapping.”
Logan’s face twitched.
“I didn’t do that.”
“Then help us prove it.”
Logan looked around the room.
Everyone was staring at him.
His shoulders dropped.
He handed over the phone.
Daniel gave it to an agent.
They began examining it.
Logan sat down.
Mrs. Whitmore whispered, “Please tell me you didn’t do anything.”
He looked at her with disgust.
“You have some nerve.”
She flinched.
“You brought that man into our family.”
“I introduced you at a party. You slept with him.”
“Logan.”
“No. Don’t.”
Madison rubbed her forehead.
“Stop fighting.”
The agent examining Logan’s phone looked up.
“We have something.”
Logan went still.
The agent turned the screen.
A banking app.
An account in the Cayman Islands.
Balance: $2.4 million.
Mrs. Whitmore stared.
“Logan?”
He looked genuinely shocked.
“That’s not mine.”
“It’s on your phone.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
The agent opened transaction history.
Three deposits.
All from entities connected to Vale.
Madison backed away.
“You took money from him.”
“No.”
“Then why is it there?”
“I don’t know!”
Dad watched silently.
Logan stood.
“Someone planted this.”
The agent said, “The banking app was accessed using Face ID.”
Logan’s confidence cracked.
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel stared at him.
“When?”
The agent checked.
“Last access was two weeks ago.”
“Location?”
A pause.
Then the agent said, “Whitmore Development headquarters.”
Madison started crying.
“Tell the truth.”
Logan looked at her.
“I am.”
“You took his money.”
“I didn’t.”
“Dad found out, didn’t he?”
“No.”
“You helped Adrian steal from the company.”
“No!”
She slapped him.
The room froze again.
Logan touched his cheek.
Madison looked horrified at herself.
Then he laughed bitterly.
“Nice. We really are Mom’s children.”
Mrs. Whitmore looked away.
Madison started to apologize.
Logan interrupted.
“Don’t.”
He sat back down.
Dad finally spoke.
“Logan.”
“What?”
“If you didn’t take the money, someone wants it to look like you did.”
“No kidding.”
“Why?”
Logan stared at the floor.
Then something changed in his face.
He whispered, “Because Dad was going to remove me.”
Madison frowned.
“From what?”
“The company.”
Mrs. Whitmore looked stunned.
“What?”
Logan rubbed his hands together.
“Three weeks ago, he told me he wanted me to resign.”
“Why?”
“He said he couldn’t trust me.”
Madison stared.
“Did he tell you why?”
“No.”
“Did you fight?”
“Yes.”
“How bad?”
“Bad.”
“What did you say?”
Logan looked ashamed.
“I told him if he pushed me out, I’d destroy him.”
The room went silent.
Madison whispered, “You threatened Dad.”
“I was angry.”
“Those exact words?”
“Yes.”
Daniel folded his arms.
“And you never thought that was relevant?”
“I didn’t think he’d get kidnapped.”
Dad looked at him.
“Who heard you?”
Logan frowned.
“What?”
“When you threatened your father, who heard it?”
“My assistant.”
“Anyone else?”
Logan thought.
Then his face went white.
“Adrian.”
Mrs. Whitmore gasped.
“He was there?”
“Not in the room. But I saw him in the hallway afterward.”
Dad nodded slowly.
“He heard the fight.”
Daniel understood immediately.
“So Vale had a motive to frame Logan.”
Madison looked at her brother.
“Why would Dad stop trusting you?”
Logan shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Dad looked at him.
“I think you do.”
Logan stared.
“What does that mean?”
“Charles found suspicious payments three months ago. Shortly after that, he began checking invoices personally. Then he asked you to resign.”
Logan’s breathing changed.
Dad continued.
“Maybe he believed you were involved.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Then maybe he was trying to protect you.”
Logan blinked.
“Protect me from what?”
Before Dad could answer, Daniel’s phone rang.
He listened.
Then turned toward the television.
“Turn on the news.”
I grabbed the remote.
A local news station appeared.
Breaking news banner.
WHITMORE DEVELOPMENT CEO SUSPECTED IN FINANCIAL FRAUD.
A reporter stood outside company headquarters.
Then documents appeared on screen.
Leaked internal files.
Emails.
Bank transfers.
Photographs of Charles.
Madison whispered, “Who leaked that?”
Daniel answered.
“Vale.”
Then the reporter said something that made everyone stop.
“Sources also allege Charles Whitmore transferred more than twelve million dollars into a secret personal account days before his disappearance.”
Mrs. Whitmore shook her head.
“No.”
Logan stared at the screen.
Dad’s expression hardened.
“That’s the play.”
“What?” I asked.
“He’s not just destroying the company.”
Dad looked at Madison.
“He’s making Charles look like the thief.”
Madison’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
She opened the message.
A video attachment.
Her hands shook.
I took the phone and pressed play.
Charles appeared on screen.
Bruised.
Tied to a chair.
Alive.
He looked directly into the camera.
Then someone behind him said, “Tell them.”
Charles swallowed.
“My name is Charles Whitmore.”
Madison covered her mouth.
“I stole from my company.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
On the video, Charles continued.
“I transferred company funds for personal use.”
A hand entered the frame and pressed a gun against his head.
Charles closed his eyes.
May you like
Then whispered, “And my son helped me.”
The video ended.
