Chapter 9 - The Voice From Oregon

Benjamin locked himself in an empty conference room with Ruth and called Grace again. She answered on the fifth ring, her voice low.

“Please stop calling this number.”

“Your name is on the account,” Benjamin said. “Tell me why.”

“Because I put it there.”

The words hit harder than Ethan's insults.

Grace continued before he could speak. “Victor needed a name that would survive bank verification. He had enough paperwork to impersonate you, but he couldn't keep your identity active forever. He used me.”

“Did you help him?”

Silence.

“Gracie.”

“Not the way you think.”

Ruth leaned toward the phone. “Grace, we can protect you better if you tell us the truth.”

“I've been trying to get proof that can't be dismissed as a forged file. Victor's people threatened Dad. They showed me pictures of his house, his car, even Mom's grave. I agreed to oversee one account if they'd leave him alone. Then I copied everything I could.”

Benjamin closed his eyes. “You should have told me.”

“I did. Three times. You never got the letters.”

Someone had intercepted his mail. Someone had controlled the story both father and daughter believed.

“Where are you?” Ruth asked.

Grace whispered the name of a motel outside Portland. Ruth wrote it down, then instructed her to stay inside until federal agents could make contact.

The line went dead again, but this time Grace had hung up after saying, “I love you, Dad.”

Benjamin held the phone against his chest.

Outside the conference room, Ethan was giving a speech to anxious employees. He called the investigation a hostile takeover and promised everything would be resolved by lunch.

Naomi stood in the crowd, filming. She knew exactly how many times Ethan had lied before breakfast.

When he saw Benjamin emerge, he smiled as if he'd regained control. “Find your daughter yet?”

Benjamin's face went still.

Ethan leaned in. “Be careful, Ben. Some family secrets only stay buried if nobody goes looking.”

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Then Ruth's phone rang. The agents sent to the motel had arrived.

Grace's room was empty, and there was fresh blood on the bathroom floor.