Chapter 14 - The Person Who Knew Too Much
Ethan did not sleep.
Neither did Isabella.
At two in the morning she appeared in Rachel's kitchen wrapped in a blanket.
"Is Beatriz coming back?"
"The police are looking for her."
"That isn't what I asked."
Ethan looked at his daughter and realized how often adults answered children with softer versions of lies.
"She might try," he said. "But she won't be alone with you again."
Isabella climbed onto a chair.
"She said you would choose your job if I made you choose."
Ethan felt the shame before he found the words.
"I gave her a reason to believe that."
"So she was right?"
"No. But I was gone too much. That's on me."
Isabella studied him.
"Are you going back to Chicago?"
"Not for a long time."
"Because of me?"
"Because I should have changed things before you had to get hurt for me to notice."
She nodded once. No dramatic forgiveness. Just a small child filing away information.
At breakfast, Priya called.
She had found a hidden spreadsheet on Sofia's drive. The earliest unauthorized trust transfer was dated three years before Sofia died.
The destination account belonged to a vendor used by Ethan's architecture firm.
"That's impossible," Ethan said.
"The vendor is real. The invoice isn't."
"Who approved it?"
"Your former finance director."
Ethan knew the name before she said it.
Martin Vale.
Martin had been Ethan's mentor for fourteen years. He had attended Sofia's funeral. He had introduced Ethan to Beatriz at a charity dinner.
The room tilted.
"Martin introduced us," Ethan whispered.
Priya went silent.
"Ethan, don't call him."
He already had.
Martin answered on the second ring.
"You finally found Sofia's files," he said.
No greeting.
No denial.
Ethan tightened his grip on the phone.
"Where is Beatriz?"
Martin sighed.
"She was supposed to scare you, not start a war."
"Where is she?"
"You need to understand something first. Sofia was going to destroy all of us."
"All of who?"
"Meet me alone and I'll tell you."
The call ended.
A text arrived with an address.
May you like
It was the old Cole family lake house.
The place where Ethan had scattered half of Sofia's ashes.
