Chapter 14 - The Accountant
Harold Crane had handled Bennett family taxes for twenty-six years.
He had attended Claire’s graduation from West Point.
He had sent Ethan a check when he opened his repair shop.
He had brought Linda soup after surgery.
He had also prepared every forged loan document.
By late afternoon, investigators confirmed his office was empty.
Computers gone.
Files shredded.
Phone off.
Robert’s car was found behind the building.
Claire stood beside it while Marisol spoke to a patrol officer.
The driver’s door was unlocked.
Inside, Claire found Robert’s wallet.
And a smear of blood on the steering wheel.
Not much.
Enough.
Ethan looked away.
Claire closed the door.
“Dad came here voluntarily.”
Mark nodded. “Probably to confront Crane.”
“Why?”
“Because Crane was Walter’s bookkeeper before he was ours.”
Claire turned.
“You never mentioned that.”
“I didn’t know until I saw him at the motel.”
“You were standing beside him in the photo.”
“He found me.”
Claire’s eyes narrowed.
Mark continued quickly. “He said Walter was closing accounts and blamed me. He offered to help me disappear again.”
“And you trusted him?”
“No. I stalled.”
Ethan scoffed. “That worked great.”
Mark flinched.
Claire stepped between them.
“Not now.”
Marisol approached.
“We got a hit on Crane’s vehicle heading north.”
“How long ago?”
“Thirty minutes.”
Claire looked at the map.
North meant rural roads.
Old properties.
Abandoned farmhouses.
Mark spoke quietly.
“There’s a cabin.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Grandpa’s hunting cabin. Crane used to go there with Dad.”
Claire’s pulse jumped.
“Where?”
Forty minutes later, law enforcement vehicles stopped short of a gravel road leading into thick woods.
Marisol told Claire and her brothers to stay back.
Claire obeyed for exactly ninety seconds.
Then Ethan saw smoke.
Thin gray smoke rising through the trees.
“Something’s burning.”
Claire was already moving.
The cabin came into view.
One window was broken.
Smoke rolled from the rear.
Agents shouted.
A man ran from the side door.
Harold Crane.
He made it twenty yards before an agent tackled him.
Claire searched the clearing.
“Dad!”
No answer.
Mark pointed.
The cellar doors.
They were chained.
Ethan grabbed a tire iron from an old truck parked nearby.
Together, he and Claire broke the chain.
Smoke pushed out.
Robert lay at the bottom of the stairs.
Alive.
Barely conscious.
Claire and Ethan pulled him out.
Robert coughed violently.
He grabbed Claire’s sleeve.
“Crane has another copy.”
“Of what?”
“The ledger.”
“Where?”
Robert looked toward the burning cabin.
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Not the money ledger.”
Claire leaned closer.
May you like
Robert whispered, “The death ledger.”
And then he passed out.
