The basement had always been smaller than Maya remembered.
Perhaps it was because she had never looked at it carefully.
Daniel moved the shelves while Ethan searched the walls for a hidden latch.
Maya held the key.
Her mother stood behind them.
Nobody spoke.
At last, Ethan found a narrow metal panel beneath the stairs.
He pulled it loose.
A small safe sat inside the wall.
Maya inserted the key.
It turned.
The door opened.
Inside was a black ledger.
A photograph.
And a passport.
Maya picked up the passport.
The name was Evelyn Hart.
The photograph showed a woman in her sixties.
Alive.
The passport had been issued only two years earlier.
Maya looked at her mother.
“You knew.”
Her mother nodded.
“I knew she had renewed her passport.”
“Then she is alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Maya opened the ledger.
The pages contained handwritten numbers.
Dates.
Initials.
Company names.
Transfers.
At first it looked like ordinary accounting.
Then Maya noticed the pattern.
Every large payment had two initials beside it.
A.C.
R.V.
V.H.
And one she didn't recognize.
D.H.
Daniel leaned closer.
“D.H.”
“Your father,” Maya said.
He shook his head.
“My father was dead when some of these payments were made.”
Maya turned the page.
The dates went back twenty-seven years.
Some continued until last month.
Daniel stared.
“My father didn't make these.”
“No,” Maya said.
“Someone used his identity.”
Ethan pointed to the newest entry.
“Look.”
A transfer had been made three days earlier.
The recipient was Hartwell Holdings.
The amount was enormous.
Maya looked at her mother.
“Who has access to this?”
“No one should.”
Daniel picked up the photograph.
It showed Robert and Evelyn together.
On the back was a date.
Two months ago.
Maya's heart sank.
“Robert wasn't hiding Evelyn.”
“He was helping her,” her mother said.
“Then why did he disappear?”
Her mother looked at the ledger.
“Because he knew someone was following him.”
Maya turned.
“Who?”
“We never found out.”
Daniel's phone rang.
It was the investigator.
He spoke for several minutes.
Then handed the phone to Maya.
The investigator said, “We found a connection between Hartwell Holdings and a second company.”
“What company?”
“Vale Security.”
Maya looked at Daniel.
“Robert.”
“That's what we thought.”
“Is it his company?”
“Technically, yes.”
Maya felt betrayed.
“He told us he wasn't involved.”
“He may not be.”
“Then why is his company receiving money?”
“We don't know.”
Maya looked at the ledger.
“Could someone be using it?”
“Yes.”
The investigator paused.
“We also found something else.”
“What?”
“Adrian Cross had been paying someone inside the investigation.”
Maya's stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“We don't have a name yet.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because the payments were routed through the same account.”
Maya looked at the ledger.
“D.H.”
“No.”
She pointed.
“These initials.”
The investigator went silent.
Then said, “That's not Daniel Hayes.”
Maya frowned.
“Then who?”
“David Hart.”
Maya looked at her mother.
Her mother went pale.
“Evelyn's husband.”
Maya stared.
“I thought he died.”
“He did,” her mother said.
“When?”
“Before Evelyn disappeared.”
The investigator continued.
“David Hart's identity was used after his death.”
Maya understood.
Someone had been operating under the names of dead people.
Daniel's father.
David Hart.
Perhaps others.
It explained the impossible transactions.
It explained the false trail.
It explained why Ethan had appeared in the bank footage.
Someone had been manufacturing identities.
Maya closed the ledger.
“Where is Evelyn?”
The investigator said, “We may have a location.”
“What?”
“An old property outside Lisbon.”
Maya's mother stood.
“I know it.”
Everyone looked at her.
“You've been there?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
Maya's voice broke.
“You saw her.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“She made me promise.”
Maya looked at her mother for a long time.
Then she nodded.
“I understand.”
It was not forgiveness.
But it was understanding.
Sometimes those were different things.
Daniel came closer.
“I'll go with you.”
Maya looked at him.
“To Portugal?”
“Yes.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“So will I.”
Maya shook her head.
“You've done enough.”
“I know.”
“That wasn't an invitation.”
“I know.”
Ethan looked down.
“But I want to help.”
Maya studied him.
The man in the bank footage had his face.
Even if someone had copied his identity, the question remained.
How?
Ethan looked at the ledger.
“There is something I never told you.”
Maya waited.
“When Victor asked for my identification last year, he also asked for my fingerprints.”
Daniel stared.
“Why would you give them to him?”
“He said the company needed them for security access.”
Maya's face hardened.
“You gave him your fingerprints?”
“I was stupid.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Ethan looked at him.
“I was.”
Maya closed her eyes.
The pieces were finally fitting.
Victor had collected Ethan's identity.
His signature.
His fingerprints.
His personal information.
He could impersonate him.
But someone had given Victor access.
Someone close enough to know what they needed.
Maya looked at Daniel's mother.
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
The house went silent.
Then the old landline phone rang upstairs.
Nobody used it.
Daniel went to answer.
He picked up.
A woman's voice spoke.
“Maya needs to come alone.”
Daniel's face changed.
“Who is this?”
The caller ignored him.
“Maya.”
She took the receiver.
“I'm here.”
The woman's voice was older.
Tired.
But familiar.
Maya stopped breathing.
“Aunt Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
Maya's hand tightened around the phone.
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because Robert has been captured.”
Maya's stomach dropped.
“By whom?”
“Adrian's people.”
“Adrian is in prison.”
“I know.”
“Then who?”
Evelyn's voice became urgent.
“The people who were behind him.”
Maya looked at the ledger.
“Who are they?”
Evelyn whispered one name.
“Your grandfather's partners.”
Maya stared.
“My grandfather's dead.”
“So are most of them.”
“Most?”
“One is still alive.”
“Who?”
Silence.
Then Evelyn said:
“You've met him.”
The call ended.
Maya stood frozen.
Daniel approached.
“What did she say?”
Maya looked at him.
“She said we've already met the person behind everything.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“Who?”
Maya didn't answer.
Because one name had already entered her mind.
Robert.
But she remembered the photograph.
Robert had helped her mother.
He had protected the trust.
He had warned them.
Yet he had also lied.
And now Evelyn had said they had met the person behind everything.
Maya looked at the ledger again.
At the initials.
At the names.
Then she saw one entry she had missed.
A payment made two days before Adrian's arrest.
Recipient:
R.V.
Maya's heart sank.
Robert Vale.
Click Here to continue read next: PART12: The Last Ledger Entry Led Maya to Robert, but the Truth Waiting There Was More Complicated Than a Simple Betrayal
The Receipt in Her Hands Revealed a Number That Made the Man Outside Forget What He Had Promised Her
Part 11 of 16
