Chapter 5: My Sister Had Been Warning Me All Along
We left the house through the garage.
Daniel insisted I wear a baseball cap and keep my head down. I hated the secrecy, but after seeing Adrian threaten my sister, I wasn't about to argue.
We drove for nearly forty minutes before stopping outside a small apartment building in Decatur.
It wasn't the kind of place Sarah would once have chosen.
She used to love expensive furniture, designer handbags, and restaurants where dinner cost more than my first car.
Now the building had peeling paint, a broken security light, and a mailbox with her name taped to it.
Daniel knocked three times.
A woman's voice answered.
"Who is it?""
"Daniel Hayes.""
There was a pause.
"Is Marcus with you?""
"Yes.""
The door opened.
Sarah stood there.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
She looked older than I remembered. Her dark hair was tied loosely behind her head, and there were shadows beneath her eyes.
But it was her.
The little sister who used to steal the last piece of birthday cake. The girl who cried when our father taught me to drive before teaching her. The woman who had once helped me build my company from nothing.
"Marcus?"" she whispered.
I nodded.
She pressed a hand against her mouth.
"Oh, my God.""
Then she stepped forward and hugged me.
I stood stiffly at first.
Then I wrapped my arms around her.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
Sarah pulled back.
"Don't.""
"I should have believed you.""
"Yes, you should have.""
Her answer was blunt.
It hurt because she was right.
She stepped aside and let us enter.
The apartment was small, but every surface was covered with papers, notebooks, and old photographs. A laptop sat open on the kitchen table. Several external hard drives were arranged beside it.
Sarah closed the blinds.
"How long have you been able to see?""
"Four days.""
Her expression changed.
"Does Vanessa know?""
"She knows now.""
Sarah closed her eyes.
"Then we have less time than I thought.""
Daniel placed his briefcase on the table.
"Sarah, we need everything you have.""
She nodded and disappeared into the bedroom.
When she returned, she carried an old cardboard box.
"I kept copies of the financial records before Vanessa had me removed from the company.""
I opened the box.
Inside were printed bank statements, invoices, photographs, and handwritten notes.
Sarah sat opposite me.
"Three years ago, I noticed payments going to Adrian's consulting company. At first, they were small. Ten thousand dollars here, twenty thousand there.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"I did.""
I looked at her.
She took a folded piece of paper from the box.
It was an email.
The date was two years earlier.
The subject line read: *URGENT — PLEASE INVESTIGATE ADRIAN COLE.*
I read the message.
Sarah had listed suspicious payments, unexplained invoices, and a series of transactions involving Vanessa.
My name appeared at the bottom of the forwarded conversation.
I'd never seen it.
"I didn't receive this.""
"I know," she said.
"Vanessa told me you were stealing from the company.""
"Vanessa told everyone that. She even showed you a spreadsheet with my supposed transfers.""
I remembered it.
I remembered signing Sarah's termination papers in my office while Vanessa sat beside me, holding my hand.
Sarah continued.
"After you fired me, I found evidence that Vanessa had been using your signature on several company accounts. I tried to get another meeting with you.""
"Why didn't you come to the house?""
"I did. Vanessa told the security guard you didn't want to see me.""
I stared at her.
"She said I told her that?""
Sarah nodded.
"I believed her at first. Then I started receiving messages telling me to stop asking questions.""
Daniel leaned forward.
"Did you report the threats?""
"To whom? The company accounts were compromised, and someone knew every move I made.""
She pulled out another folder.
"Then I found something that changed everything.""
Inside was a list of payments made six weeks before my accident.
One transfer stood out.
$45,000.
The recipient was a private vehicle maintenance company.
"What's this?"" I asked.
Sarah pointed to the transaction date.
"That company was hired to inspect your Mercedes.""
I looked at Daniel.
"Robert Miller inspected the car after the crash.""
Sarah shook her head.
"This was before the crash. Someone had arranged a private inspection without your knowledge.""
I studied the company name.
"Do you know who paid them?""
She slid another page across the table.
The transaction had been authorized using my corporate approval code.
But the digital signature belonged to Vanessa.
Daniel took photographs of the document.
"Do you have the original digital records?""
Sarah nodded.
"Everything is on this drive.""
She reached into a drawer and pulled out a small silver USB drive.
"I backed up the company's server before my access was terminated. There are emails, invoices, and internal messages. Some of them were deleted later.""
"Why didn't you give these to the police?"" I asked.
"Because I didn't know whom to trust. And because I found something else.""
She turned her laptop toward me.
An audio file appeared on the screen.
The filename was a date and a time.
Eight days before my accident.
Sarah pressed play.
A man's voice emerged.
"Once the vehicle is prepared, we need to make sure Marcus doesn't change his route.""
A second voice answered.
It belonged to Vanessa.
"He always takes the same road home.""
Then the man spoke again.
"And the medication?""
"That's already arranged.""
Sarah stopped the recording.
I stared at the screen.
"Who was the man?""
She shook her head.
"I don't know. The audio is incomplete.""
Daniel leaned closer.
"Where did you get this?""
"From an old server backup. It was attached to an internal email that Adrian sent to Vanessa.""
My hands tightened.
"There was someone else involved.""
Sarah nodded.
"Someone who knew your schedule, your car, and your medical history.""
I looked between them.
"How far back does this go?""
Sarah hesitated.
Then she reached into the cardboard box and removed a sealed envelope.
"This was delivered to my apartment two days after your accident.""
My name was written across the front.
The handwriting was unmistakably my father's.
I stared at it.
"How is that possible? Dad died nine years ago.""
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
"He left instructions with his attorney. I was supposed to give this to you if anyone ever tried to take the company or the house.""
She placed it in my hands.
The seal had never been broken.
I carefully opened it.
Inside was a single handwritten letter.
Marcus,
If you're reading this, someone has finally tried to take what your mother and I built for our family.
There is something about the company you were never told.
The real owner of Bennett Industrial Solutions is not who you think.
At the bottom was one final sentence.
Whatever happens, do not let Vanessa get the original trust document.
I slowly lowered the letter.
Sarah was watching me.
"Marcus," she whispered, "I think Dad knew this would happen.""
Then Daniel noticed something written in the bottom corner of the envelope.
A name.
*Evelyn Hayes.*
His mother's name.
Daniel went completely pale.
"That's impossible.""
I looked at him.
"Who is Evelyn Hayes?""
He swallowed hard.
"My mother died when I was twelve.""
May you like
Then he turned the envelope over.
"Marcus, that's not her handwriting.""
