Chapter 10 - Six Accounts
“How much?” I asked.
My banker hesitated.
“Combined movement over fourteen months is approximately four point eight million dollars.”
The cabin seemed to shrink.
“That’s impossible.”
“Most of the money passed through quickly. In and out within twenty-four hours.”
Daniel stood.
“Hang up.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“This is privileged financial information being broadcast in front of strangers.”
Valery gave him a flat look.
“I’ve heard worse.”
The banker continued. “Mrs. Mercer, we need to verify whether you opened accounts at First Cascade, Western Harbor, and two online institutions.”
“No.”
“Did you authorize Daniel Mercer as a financial representative?”
“No.”
Daniel’s composure cracked.
“Claire, you sign documents without reading every page. Don’t start making accusations you’ll regret.”
I stared at him.
That sentence told me more than a confession would have.
“You put them in front of me.”
“For our investments.”
“You opened accounts in my name.”
“I structured assets for us.”
“My banker says money moved through them.”
“Tax strategy.”
“What tax strategy requires a fake passport?”
He looked away.
The banker spoke again.
“Mrs. Mercer, I’m freezing everything we can control. I strongly recommend you contact counsel and law enforcement.”
Daniel grabbed my phone.
I held on.
For one ugly second we both had it.
Valery stepped between us.
“Sir, let go.”
He did.
Not because she told him to.
Because the cockpit door opened.
The captain stood there.
“Is there a problem?”
Daniel smiled instantly.
“No problem.”
I said, “I need this aircraft met by security when we land.”
Daniel’s head turned toward me.
The captain studied us.
Then he nodded once.
“I’ll make the call.”
Daniel waited until the cockpit door closed.
Then he leaned toward me.
“You have no idea what you just did.”
His voice wasn’t angry.
It was scared.
May you like
For months I had wondered whether I was too suspicious, too sensitive, too demanding. Daniel had a gift for turning every question into a flaw in the person asking it. Sitting there, I felt something inside me settle. I wasn’t imagining the missing details. I wasn’t creating drama. The problem had never been that I asked too many questions. The problem was that I had started asking the right ones.
Private Jet Story - 20 Chapters
