Chapter 4
Detective Alvarez told me not to answer.
I answered anyway.
Where is she?
Laura responded immediately.
Home.
Come alone.
Alvarez read the message over my shoulder.
“You’re not going alone.”
“She’ll know.”
“Good.”
“She has Emily.”
“We don’t know that your stepdaughter is being held against her will.”
I pointed at the photograph.
“Look at her face.”
Alvarez remained calm.
“I am looking. That’s why we do this correctly.”
Another message arrived.
Laura again.
No police.
No Daniel.
And definitely no Thomas.
I stared at that last name.
Thomas.
My brother.
Laura apparently believed he was still on her side.
That gave us an advantage.
I called Thomas.
He answered sleepily.
“Robert?”
“You need to meet me.”
“Do you know what time it is?”
“I know exactly what time it is.”
Silence.
Then his voice became careful.
“What happened?”
“Emily is missing.”
Another pause.
“That’s terrible.”
“You don’t sound surprised.”
“What are you accusing me of?”
“Nothing yet.”
Daniel watched me.
Alvarez motioned for me to keep talking.
I said, “Laura wants me home.”
“Then go home.”
That answer came too quickly.
“Why?”
“Because your wife is upset.”
“My wife forged my signature.”
Thomas exhaled.
“Robert, you’re tired.”
“I heard your recording.”
Silence.
Complete silence.
Then the call disconnected.
Alvarez immediately said, “Good. Now he knows we know.”
“That was good?”
“It may force him to move.”
“It may make him run.”
“That too.”
She sent officers toward Thomas’s house.
Then she looked at me.
“We’re going to your home.”
Twenty minutes later, the street where I had lived for eighteen years was filled with unmarked police cars.
The house looked exactly as it always did.
White trim.
Stone steps.
Laura’s garden lights glowing beside the driveway.
But it no longer felt like my home.
It felt like a trap.
I wore a small transmitter under my shirt.
Alvarez was listening from a vehicle two houses away.
I walked to the front door alone.
It was unlocked.
Inside, the lights were dim.
“Laura?”
No answer.
“Emily?”
Nothing.
Then Laura appeared at the top of the stairs.
She was wearing the same clothes from the warehouse.
“You brought police.”
I didn’t deny it.
“Where’s Emily?”
“She’s safe.”
“Where?”
“Not here.”
My stomach dropped.
“You lied.”
Laura descended slowly.
“You lied first.”
“About what?”
“About everything.”
She walked into the living room.
I followed.
On the coffee table were documents.
A bottle of wine.
Two glasses.
The normal appearance of it made everything feel worse.
Laura sat.
“Did you ever love me?”
I stared at her.
“Is that really what you want to talk about?”
“Yes.”
“I spent twenty-one years loving you.”
“No. You spent twenty-one years owning everything.”
“You lived in this house. You had access to every account. You never worked because you said you wanted to focus on Emily.”
“Your point?”
“You weren’t trapped.”
Laura laughed.
“That’s what wealthy men always say.”
“This isn’t about marriage anymore. Where is Emily?”
“She betrayed me.”
My heart tightened.
“She found out you were using her.”
“She was supposed to trust me.”
“You manipulated her.”
“I protected her.”
“By asking her to help steal my company?”
“It should have been hers eventually!”
My voice rose.
“When I died. Not because you manufactured a financial collapse.”
Laura stared at me.
“Thomas told us the company was already dying.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He showed me the numbers.”
“What numbers?”
“The debts.”
“Hartwell has manageable debt.”
“He said you were hiding losses.”
I looked at her.
For the first time, I saw uncertainty.
“Laura, Thomas controls our financial reporting.”
Her face changed slightly.
“He told me you were the one changing the reports.”
“No.”
“He showed Richard statements.”
“Statements Thomas created.”
She stood.
“You’re lying.”
“Why would I borrow ninety million dollars against my own company through a shell corporation?”
“You were moving assets before divorcing me.”
“I never planned to divorce you.”
She stopped.
“Not before this week.”
Her mouth opened slightly.
Richard had built everything around that lie.
So had Thomas.
I stepped closer.
“Who told you I was leaving?”
She said nothing.
“Thomas?”
Nothing.
“Richard?”
Laura looked away.
I understood.
“Both.”
She suddenly shouted, “You think I’m stupid?”
“I think you were angry enough to believe people who needed you angry.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
But the tears didn’t move me the way they once would have.
Not after forged signatures.
Not after Emily.
“Where is my daughter?”
Laura whispered, “She isn’t your daughter.”
I stared at her.
“After everything, that’s what you have left?”
“You always wanted her to love you more than me.”
“That was never a competition.”
“It was for me!”
The confession hung in the room.
Laura covered her mouth.
Then shook her head.
“You were perfect Robert. Always calm. Always dependable. Always showing up. Do you know what that did to me?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“It made Emily feel safe.”
“It made me invisible.”
“You’re blaming me because your daughter loved me?”
“She worshipped you.”
“No. She trusted me.”
Laura’s face twisted.
“Exactly.”
The front door opened.
Richard walked in.
I hadn’t heard a car.
He held Emily by the arm.
She looked terrified.
“Dad.”
I moved toward her.
Richard pulled her backward.
“Stay there.”
My entire body went cold.
His hand disappeared into his jacket.
Alvarez’s voice came through the tiny earpiece hidden under my collar.
Do not advance.
I stopped.
Emily stared at me.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“Yes, I do.”
Richard snapped, “Shut up.”
Laura looked at him.
“Why did you bring her here?”
“Because she became a problem.”
Laura stepped closer.
“I told you I would handle her.”
“You couldn’t handle your husband.”
I saw the insult hit her.
Their alliance was already cracking.
Good.
I looked at Richard.
“What do you want?”
“Sign the papers.”
He nodded toward the coffee table.
“What papers?”
“Confirmation of the trust amendments and ratification of the corporate votes.”
I almost laughed.
“If you already own everything, why do you need my signature?”
His face hardened.
Exactly.
The paperwork was weaker than they wanted me to believe.
I sat down slowly.
“Let Emily go.”
“Sign first.”
“No.”
Richard’s hand remained inside his jacket.
Emily was crying silently.
Laura said, “Richard, this wasn’t the plan.”
He looked at her.
“The plan changed.”
“You said no one would get hurt.”
“Then tell your husband to cooperate.”
Her husband.
Not Robert.
Not thief.
Not enemy.
Her husband.
For the first time, Laura seemed to realize how far this had gone.
I said, “Laura, listen to me.”
Richard snapped, “Don’t.”
I ignored him.
“Thomas lied to you.”
“Stop.”
“He lied about the company.”
“Robert.”
“He lied about me divorcing you.”
Laura’s eyes flicked toward Richard.
I continued.
“And Richard lied about the loan.”
Richard pulled a gun.
Emily screamed.
Police began shouting through my earpiece.
Laura stared at the weapon.
“What are you doing?”
Richard pointed it toward me.
“Sit down.”
I was already sitting.
“Everyone calm down,” I said.
Emily whispered, “Dad.”
“It’s okay.”
It wasn’t.
But she needed to hear it.
Richard threw a pen onto the table.
“Sign.”
I looked at the documents.
Then at him.
“If I sign, Victor gets the company tomorrow?”
“He gets what he paid for.”
That sentence mattered.
“What did he pay for?”
“Sign.”
“Was it you?”
Richard’s eyes narrowed.
“Was what me?”
“Did Victor pay you to bring Laura into this?”
Laura turned.
“What?”
Richard’s face told me I was close.
I pushed.
“How much?”
“Shut up.”
“Five million?”
Laura stared at him.
“You told me Victor was helping us finance the acquisition.”
Richard said nothing.
I looked at her.
“He didn’t tell you?”
“Shut up!”
“Victor paid Richard.”
Laura whispered, “Is that true?”
Richard turned toward her.
“Don’t listen to him.”
“How much?”
“Laura.”
“How much?”
Emily suddenly twisted free.
Richard grabbed for her.
Laura stepped between them.
The gun moved.
Everything happened at once.
I lunged forward.
Emily screamed.
The front door exploded open.
Police flooded the room.
Richard spun.
Officers shouted.
“DROP THE WEAPON!”
He froze.
Then lowered the gun.
Alvarez tackled him against the wall.
Emily ran straight into me.
I held her.
She buried her face against my chest.
“I’m sorry.”
I could barely breathe.
“I have you.”
Over her shoulder, I saw Laura standing alone.
She looked stunned.
Destroyed.
Richard was handcuffed.
Officers searched him.
One found a second phone.
Another found documents.
Alvarez walked toward Laura.
“Mrs. Hartwell, don’t move.”
Laura stared at me.
“Robert.”
I said nothing.
An officer began reading her rights.
Her knees nearly gave out.
Emily looked up.
“Mom?”
Laura turned toward her daughter.
For one second, the anger disappeared.
She looked like the woman I had married.
Then she whispered, “I thought I was protecting you.”
Emily shook her head.
“You almost destroyed him.”
Laura started crying.
Before police took her outside, she looked at me one last time.
“Thomas started it.”
Alvarez stopped.
“What did you say?”
Laura stared at me.
“Your brother didn’t just forge the documents.”
She swallowed.
“He’s been stealing from Hartwell for years.”
I felt the room go silent.
“How many years?”
Laura gave a broken laugh.
“You should ask him.”
An officer near the doorway suddenly touched his radio.
Then looked at Alvarez.
“Detective.”
“What?”
“Units reached Thomas Hartwell’s house.”
“And?”
“He’s gone.”
My stomach tightened.
The officer continued.
“But they found his wife unconscious in the garage.”
I stared at him.
“Is she alive?”
“Barely.”
Then he added the part that changed everything.
“And there were two packed suitcases in his car.”
Alvarez asked, “Any indication where he went?”
The officer nodded.
“Airport security flagged his passport twenty minutes ago.”
“Destination?”
“Switzerland.”
I looked at Daniel.
Thomas wasn’t running because of one fraudulent deal.
May you like
He was running because Laura had told the truth.
My brother had been stealing from me for years.
