Derek Harlan agreed to meet three days later.
Not at his home.
Not at his office.
A small hotel lobby two hours from the city.
Rachel came with me.
Two investigators followed separately.
I hadn't slept well since finding the notebook.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the line written beside my initials.
USE J.K. AS COVER.
It was one sentence.
But it explained more than six years of marriage.
Derek was already waiting when we arrived.
He was in his late fifties, with silver hair and a dark jacket.
He looked like an ordinary businessman.
That almost made me distrust him more.
He stood when we approached.
“Mrs. Kincaid.”
“Derek.”
He glanced at Rachel.
“Your attorney?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“I assumed you'd bring one.”
“You asked whether I had the original documents.”
“I needed to know what you had.”
“Why?”
“Because if you have them, Cal is not the only person who should be worried.”
I sat.
Rachel remained beside me.
Derek took the chair across from us.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he asked:
“Did you find Marcus's notebook?”
“Yes.”
“Did you hear the recordings?”
“Yes.”
His expression changed.
“What recordings?”
I watched him carefully.
“You didn't know about them?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
“You worked with Marcus.”
“Yes.”
“You worked with Cal.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the accounts.”
“I knew about some accounts.”
“Did you know my identity was being used?”
He hesitated.
“Not at first.”
“When did you find out?”
“About five years ago.”
I felt my hands tighten.
“Five years?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I confronted Cal.”
“What did he say?”
“That you had authorized it.”
“He lied.”
“I know that now.”
“How?”
“Because Marcus showed me the original records.”
I leaned forward.
“What records?”
“Transfers.”
“From 6619?”
“Yes.”
“Who controlled it?”
“Cal.”
“My name was on it.”
“I know.”
“Why did Marcus keep working with him?”
Derek looked down.
“Because Marcus believed he could recover the missing money.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Where did the money go?”
Derek rubbed his forehead.
“That is the question that started all of this.”
“All of what?”
He looked at me.
“Cal didn't create the first fraud.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Cal joined something that already existed.”
Rachel leaned forward.
“Explain.”
Derek looked toward the windows.
“Years before you met Cal, Marcus was working with another group of investors.”
“Who?”
“Private lenders.”
“Names?”
“I can give them to the investigators.”
“Give me the truth first.”
He nodded.
“Money was being moved between companies.”
“Why?”
“To hide losses.”
“Whose losses?”
“Everyone's.”
That answer was too vague.
“Derek.”
He sighed.
“Marcus discovered that money from one investment pool was being used to cover another.”
“A Ponzi structure?”
“Something similar.”
“And Cal?”
“Cal handled transfers.”
“So he knew.”
“Yes.”
“He stole from investors.”
“Yes.”
“But he wasn't the person who created the system.”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Derek shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to understand that I was never at the top.”
“Who was?”
He didn't answer.
Rachel interrupted.
“Derek, you're speaking to an attorney and a client who has already been defrauded. If you want cooperation, you need to stop withholding the central facts.”
He looked at her.
“I'm trying.”
I said, “What happened to Marcus?”
His face changed.
“Marcus wanted out.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Before my wedding.”
“Yes.”
“Did he confront Cal?”
“Yes.”
“About my identity?”
“Yes.”
“What did Marcus plan to do?”
“Expose him.”
“Then why didn't he?”
“Because Cal told him he would return the money.”
“How much?”
“Nearly two hundred thousand.”
I felt sick.
“That's what was missing?”
“At the time.”
“What happened next?”
“Marcus demanded a payment.”
“From Cal?”
“Yes.”
“And Cal paid him?”
“Partially.”
“Through the account in my name?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“So my identity wasn't just used to hide money.”
“No.”
“It was used to pay Marcus.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Cal couldn't move the money openly.”
The pieces were beginning to fit.
But one still didn't.
“The Cincinnati trip.”
Derek went still.
“You know about that.”
“I know Cal went there the weekend Marcus died.”
Derek didn't answer.
“Did you send him?”
“No.”
“Did Marcus ask him to come?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“To meet.”
“About the money?”
“About the account.”
My pulse quickened.
“What account?”
“6619.”
“Why?”
“Marcus had discovered the money trail.”
“And he knew my name was being used.”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell Cal he would expose him?”
“Yes.”
“What happened after the meeting?”
Derek looked at me.
“Cal called me.”
“When?”
“Late that night.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Marcus had gone too far.”
“What did that mean?”
“I asked him.”
“And?”
“He said there had been an accident.”
My breath caught.
“Did Cal say Marcus was dead?”
“Not directly.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘It's over.’”
The room went silent.
I looked at Rachel.
“Did you know about the accident?”
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I didn't know what had happened.”
“You believed Cal?”
“I was afraid.”
Everyone had been afraid.
Margaret.
Stephanie.
Derek.
Eric.
And somehow their fear had allowed Cal to keep going.
I asked, “When did you learn Marcus was dead?”
“Two days later.”
“Who told you?”
“Cal.”
“Did he say he caused the crash?”
“No.”
“Did he say he was in the car?”
“No.”
“Then what made you suspicious?”
Derek leaned back.
“The money.”
“What money?”
“The payments continued.”
“To whom?”
“An account created after Marcus died.”
“MV Holdings.”
“Yes.”
“Margaret's company.”
“Yes.”
“Who controlled it?”
“Cal.”
I felt cold.
“Why did he use his mother?”
“Because he couldn't use himself.”
“And why couldn't he use himself?”
“Because investigators were already asking questions.”
“About the investors.”
“Yes.”
“And he needed my identity.”
“Yes.”
I looked down.
Six years.
Six years of being the clean name.
The respectable wife.
The person no one suspected.
I asked the question I had been afraid to ask.
“Did Cal know Marcus was going to die?”
Derek's answer was careful.
“I don't know.”
“Did he plan it?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you ever see evidence?”
“No.”
“Then what are you hiding?”
Derek's eyes met mine.
“Cal wasn't alone in Cincinnati.”
My heart stopped.
“Who was with him?”
“Another man.”
“Who?”
“I never saw his face.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Marcus told me.”
“When?”
“Hours before he died.”
“What did he say?”
Derek looked at Rachel.
She nodded.
He continued.
“Marcus called me from Cincinnati.”
“He was alive.”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Cal had arrived.”
“Then?”
“He said someone else was there.”
“Did he name the person?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“He said he didn't know who the man was.”
I leaned forward.
“What happened next?”
“The call ended.”
“Did Marcus call again?”
“No.”
“Did you try?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“No answer.”
Derek looked at his hands.
“Then I heard about the accident.”
I couldn't speak.
Rachel asked, “Did you keep records of that call?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Derek reached into his briefcase.
A small folder.
He placed it on the table.
The phone log showed the call.
Date.
Time.
Duration.
Twenty-three minutes.
Twenty-three minutes while Marcus was alive.
I stared at it.
Then I saw something else.
A handwritten note.
Cincinnati — 11:48 p.m.
Two voices.
Cal + unknown male.
I looked at Derek.
“You wrote this?”
“Yes.”
“How did you know there were two voices?”
“Marcus called me from a phone on speaker.”
“Why?”
“He wanted me to hear what Cal was saying.”
“What did you hear?”
Derek swallowed.
“Cal said the account had to disappear.”
“Which account?”
“Yours.”
“Then the other man said something.”
“What?”
Derek hesitated.
“He said, ‘She'll never know.’”
The words cut through me.
The same phrase from the recording.
She'll never know.
I closed my eyes.
This wasn't one person's deception.
It had become a system.
Derek continued.
“Marcus was trying to negotiate.”
“For what?”
“His safety.”
“What did he demand?”
“Proof that the money had been returned.”
“And did Cal agree?”
“I don't know.”
“Then the call ended.”
“Yes.”
I looked at the phone log again.
“Where was the phone?”
“Marcus's hotel.”
“Did police recover it?”
“I don't know.”
I turned to Rachel.
“We need to tell the investigators.”
“We will.”
Derek looked at me.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Marcus had a backup.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
“Where?”
“He told me he had sent copies to someone.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Derek looked at me.
“He said if anything happened to him, the evidence would reach the woman whose name was being used.”
My heart stopped.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“Did it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Rachel asked, “Who was supposed to receive it?”
Derek shook his head.
“Marcus never said.”
We left the hotel shortly after.
The investigators took copies of Derek's records.
They also took his phone.
On the drive home, Rachel remained silent.
Finally I asked:
“What are you thinking?”
“That someone may have prevented Marcus's evidence from reaching you.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
“And the unknown man?”
“We don't know.”
I looked out the window.
There was one thing I did know.
Cal had lied about Cincinnati.
He had lied about Marcus.
He had lied about the account.
He had lied about my signature.
But he might not have been the only person involved.
When I got home, there was a package on the front step.
No return address.
My name was handwritten.
I didn't touch it.
I called the police.
They arrived within the hour.
The package contained a flash drive.
Nothing else.
The investigator connected it to a secure computer.
There were three files.
The first contained bank records.
The second contained photographs.
The third contained a scanned letter.
The letter was from Marcus.
It was addressed to me.
My hands trembled.
Rachel read over my shoulder.
The first line was simple.
Josie, if you are reading this, Cal has failed to keep the promise he made to me.
I stopped breathing.
The letter continued.
Marcus explained that he had discovered the account using my name.
He said he confronted Cal.
He said Cal insisted he would repay the money.
But Marcus didn't trust him.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
I did not open that account with Cal.
Someone else did.
I looked at Rachel.
“What?”
She read the line again.
Marcus had written that Cal was not the first person to use my identity.
The original account had been created through information already circulating among the investors.
Cal had learned about it.
Then he had taken control.
The next paragraph contained a name.
A name I recognized.
Margaret.
Not because she had opened the account.
Because Marcus believed she had unknowingly provided the documents that made it possible.
I sat down.
Then I read the final paragraph.
Cal is dangerous when cornered, but he is not the person I fear most.
My hands went cold.
The letter ended with four words.
Ask him about Derek.
I looked up.
Derek.
The man who had just told us his version.
The man who claimed he had been afraid.
The man who had handed over evidence.
And now Marcus had written his name as a warning.
I reread the sentence.
Ask him about Derek.
Rachel looked at me.
“What do you think it means?”
I stared at the flash drive.
“I think Derek left something out.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART8: Marcus’s Final Letter Turned the Investigation Toward Derek, and One Hidden Recording Exposed a Meeting Cal Had Denied Ever Happened
The Christmas Toast That Made Me Realize My Husband Had Been Spending More Than Money
Part 7 of 16
