Chapter 18 - The Last Transfer
“It’s a trap,” Leo said.
The adults looked at him.
“If the transfer goes through under Grandpa’s name, Martin can say Grandpa stole the pension money himself.”
The accountant nodded. “That is exactly what it looks like.”
Henry leaned over the keyboard. “Cancel it.”
“I tried. The transfer is locked behind a dual authorization protocol.”
“Whose tokens?”
“Yours and Grant’s.”
Grant reached into his pocket. “Mine was taken when Martin’s people grabbed me last week.”
Claire turned. “You were kidnapped too?”
“For six hours. I didn’t tell anyone.”
“Why not?”
Grant laughed without humor. “Have you met this family?”
Henry rubbed his forehead.
The accountant checked the clock.
“Three hours until the wire processes.”
Leo looked at Grandpa. “Where is your token?”
Henry’s hand stopped.
“In my study safe.”
The study had burned with the west wing.
Claire said, “Then it’s gone.”
Henry shook his head slowly.
“No. The safe is fire-rated.”
They returned to Mercer House under police escort.
The mansion looked wounded in daylight. Windows were black holes. The roof over the west wing had collapsed. Water covered the floors.
Fire investigators cleared a path to Henry’s study.
The wall safe had survived.
Henry entered the code.
Nothing happened.
Leo looked at the keypad.
“The power’s dead.”
Henry nodded. “There’s a mechanical override behind the portrait.”
Leo stared at him.
“Another portrait?”
Henry gave him a tired smile. “Your grandmother liked portraits.”
They pulled down a smaller painting.
Behind it was a key slot.
Leo still had the brass key from the first portrait.
He inserted it.
The safe opened.
Inside sat a leather folder, two passports, cash, and a black authorization token.
Grant exhaled. “We can stop the transfer.”
Then Henry noticed the red light blinking on the token.
His face changed.
“What?” Leo asked.
Henry picked it up.
“This is not mine.”
The accountant turned it over.
A tiny label was stuck beneath the battery cover.
GP-02.
Grant’s token.
Someone had switched them.
Claire whispered, “Then where is yours?”
Leo looked at the burned portrait on the floor.
And suddenly remembered the first thing that had fallen from behind Grandpa’s portrait.
The recorder.
The key.
May you like
And one more sound he had ignored.
A tiny plastic object bouncing under the cabinet.
