Chapter 6 - The Notary Who Vanished
Marsha Bell did not answer her phone.
She did not answer her door either.
Daniel sent an investigator to her address. The house was dark. Mail spilled from the box. A neighbor said Marsha had loaded two suitcases into her car before sunrise.
“People with nothing to hide do not usually leave town the morning a fraud attorney calls,” Priya said.
The bank placed an internal hold on the remaining funds. There were only $6,418 left.
From one hundred forty-four thousand.
I should have felt relief that anything remained. Instead I felt sick.
Ryan’s attorney sent Daniel an email offering a “peaceful resolution.” Ryan would withdraw his request for primary custody if I agreed to waive claims against certain financial accounts and sign a confidentiality clause.
I laughed when Daniel read it.
“He wants to trade my baby for silence?”
“That is not how they phrased it.”
“That is exactly what it is.”
Daniel’s mouth tightened. “Yes.”
I refused.
An hour later Ryan called from a blocked number.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked.
“You stole from me.”
“I used money for our family.”
“You paid a divorce lawyer with it.”
“I was protecting myself.”
“From your wife who didn’t know the money existed?”
He lowered his voice. “Your grandmother is poisoning you.”
“No. She showed me a bank statement.”
“You think Evelyn is some saint? Ask her why your father almost lost the company fifteen years ago.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ask her.”
Grandma was in the study when I found her.
“What happened with Dad’s company?”
She looked up slowly.
“Who told you to ask that?”
“Ryan.”
Her silence gave me my answer before her words did.
Fifteen years earlier, Dad secretly borrowed against the family business. Grandma paid the debt and forced him to surrender his ownership stake.
“Your father has resented me ever since,” she said.
“So the money you sent me—was that because you didn’t trust him?”
“I didn’t trust anyone to make sure you had an exit if you ever needed one.”
My throat tightened.
“The exit they stole.”
“Yes.”
The front door opened.
Jason stumbled inside, pale and breathless.
“Lock the door,” he said.
Grandma stood. “What happened?”
Jason held out a flash drive.
“I went into Dad’s office.”
May you like
He swallowed hard.
“And I found a folder with Emily’s name on it.”
