Chapter 15 - Four Names
Special Agent Ortiz gave me four names.
Adam Blake.
Daniel Mercer.
Michael Dane.
Jonathan Cross.
Two sounded like strangers.
One was the man sleeping beside me for nearly two years.
Valery listened from a few feet away.
Daniel knew we were done pretending.
“What do they think I did?” he asked.
I ended the call.
“They think you’ve been running financial fraud for years.”
He shook his head.
“No. They think what they’re supposed to think.”
“That sentence means nothing.”
“It means I had partners.”
Valery’s face sharpened.
“Partners?”
Daniel looked at her.
For the first time, there was something almost regretful in his expression.
“Your mother wasn’t targeted by me.”
Valery stepped closer.
“Don’t you dare.”
“I introduced her company to investors. That was it.”
“You stole from her.”
“I didn’t move the money.”
“Then who did?”
He glanced at me.
That glance made my stomach turn.
“Monica?” I asked.
Silence.
“Monica Vale?”
His jaw tightened.
Valery spoke slowly. “Who is she?”
Daniel sat down.
“My sister.”
I stared at him.
“You told me you were an only child.”
“I told you what I needed to tell you.”
The cruelty of that sentence was almost casual.
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“Monica built the accounts. She built the identities. She knew banking systems. I brought clients.”
“Clients?” Valery said.
“Targets,” I corrected.
Daniel looked at me.
“I never thought of you that way.”
“Then why was she asking if you were still bringing me?”
His eyes dropped.
I felt the answer before he said it.
“She needed you in Vancouver to sign something in person.”
“What?”
“A trust transfer.”
“For two point six million?”
He didn’t respond.
The seat belt sign chimed.
We were descending.
May you like
Then Daniel whispered, “Monica won’t let me walk away.”
Private Jet Story - 20 Chapters
