They left through the back door.
Daniel locked it twice, then stood on the patio listening to the street. The morning had become unnaturally ordinary. A woman walked a dog. A delivery van passed. Somewhere nearby, a lawn sprinkler clicked in steady intervals.
Claire glanced toward the road.
The black sedan was gone.
“That doesn't make me feel better,” she said.
“It shouldn't.”
They took Daniel's old pickup instead of Claire's car. He insisted on driving because he knew the roads around his neighborhood better.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
The metal box sat between them on the seat.
Claire finally broke the silence.
“You can't keep deciding what I should know.”
Daniel kept his eyes on the road.
“I know.”
“If someone is threatening us, I need the whole story.”
“I know.”
“Then tell me why Martin gave you that envelope.”
Daniel exhaled.
“I honestly don't know.”
“That's not good enough.”
“I met him twenty-one years ago. He was good with numbers. Better than anyone I'd ever hired. When the company grew, he helped me arrange financing. He knew where every dollar went.”
“And then?”
“Five years ago, he came to the house.”
Claire frowned.
“Why?”
“He said there was a problem with one of the company accounts.”
“What problem?”
“Money had been moved.”
“How much?”
“About forty thousand.”
Claire turned toward him.
“You lost forty thousand dollars?”
“I thought I had.”
“What does that mean?”
“I found the money two days later.”
“Where?”
“In another account.”
“Whose?”
Daniel's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Mine.”
Claire stared.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“I know.”
“What did Martin say?”
“He said it was a bookkeeping transfer.”
“And you believed him?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked out through the windshield.
“Because the account was real.”
Claire waited.
“Then six months later, another transfer happened. Smaller. Same thing. Martin explained it again.”
“Did you ever check?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“The money always came back.”
Claire's voice softened.
“Dad, money doesn't move by itself.”
“I know that now.”
They drove another block.
“What changed five years ago?”
Daniel was silent for so long that Claire thought he would refuse.
“Your mother had been gone for three years,” he said.
Claire looked down.
Daniel continued.
“I wasn't sleeping well. I was trying to keep the business running. Martin started handling more of the paperwork. I was grateful.”
“You trusted him because you were exhausted.”
“Yes.”
“And he used that.”
“I don't know.”
Claire looked at him.
“You do.”
Daniel did not answer.
They reached a quiet parking lot near the bank and stopped.
Before getting out, Claire opened the metal box again.
She looked at the mysterious list.
“There's another name here.”
Daniel turned.
“What name?”
“Not a company.”
She pointed.
“Your brother.”
Daniel froze.
His older brother, Michael, had been dead for eleven years.
Claire read the notation beside his name.
“Why would money connected to your company be associated with Uncle Michael?”
Daniel took the paper from her.
“I don't know.”
“You said he died eleven years ago.”
“He did.”
“Then why is his name here?”
Daniel stared at the page.
“I need to think.”
Claire leaned toward him.
“Dad, somebody is using dead people.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
“First you. Now Uncle Michael.”
She pointed to the tax filing.
“Maybe this isn't just about your company.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“What are you suggesting?”
“I don't know yet.”
She reached for the door.
“That's why we're going inside.”
At the bank, they were taken into a private office.
A fraud specialist named Elaine Morris closed the door behind them.
She placed a folder on the table.
“I've already frozen the transfer.”
Daniel released a breath.
“Thank you.”
Elaine nodded.
“But that is not the only problem.”
She opened the folder.
Inside was the account application.
The signature looked almost exactly like Daniel's.
Almost.
Claire saw it immediately.
“The middle initial.”
Elaine looked at her.
“What about it?”
“My father doesn't write it like that.”
Daniel glanced at Claire.
Elaine examined the document.
“Interesting.”
She pulled out another form.
“This is from your legitimate business account.”
The signatures were similar.
But not identical.
Elaine frowned.
“Whoever did this had access to a sample.”
Daniel sat back.
“Martin.”
“Possibly.”
Elaine turned another page.
“There is also a beneficiary designation.”
Claire's stomach tightened.
“You said that already.”
“This one was added yesterday.”
Elaine slid the paper across.
Claire read her own name.
Then she read the address.
It was not her home.
It was an apartment building she had never heard of.
“What is this?”
Elaine pointed.
“The beneficiary's address.”
“That isn't mine.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Whose is it?”
Elaine looked at him.
“We checked.”
She hesitated.
“It belongs to Martin Cole.”
The room went silent.
Claire's pulse accelerated.
“Why would my name be connected to his address?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel stood.
“Can we trace who submitted it?”
Elaine nodded.
“We can see the digital signature.”
She turned the monitor toward them.
A series of timestamps appeared.
Claire leaned closer.
“That's the same day Martin called Dad.”
Daniel looked at her.
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“What did he say?”
Claire thought.
“He asked if you had changed your password.”
Daniel slowly sat down.
“I told him I had.”
Claire looked at him.
“You told him?”
“He called from a number I recognized.”
“Why would you answer?”
“Because I thought he wanted to apologize.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“What did he want?”
Daniel's eyes dropped.
“He asked whether I still kept paper copies of my business records.”
Claire felt cold.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Elaine closed the folder.
“Mr. Mercer, I strongly recommend you contact law enforcement.”
Daniel nodded.
“We will.”
He stood.
Claire gathered the documents.
As they left the office, she noticed Daniel was no longer carrying the metal box.
She looked back.
“Dad.”
He stopped.
“The box.”
“I left it in the truck.”
They walked quickly outside.
The pickup was still there.
The doors were locked.
Daniel opened the passenger side.
The metal box sat exactly where he had left it.
Claire opened it.
The mysterious paper was gone.
She looked up.
“Dad.”
He stared at the empty envelope.
“I didn't take it.”
“I know.”
“Then who did?”
Claire looked through the truck.
Nothing else appeared disturbed.
No broken lock.
No damaged window.
No missing wallet.
Only the paper was gone.
Daniel whispered, “They knew we'd come here.”
Claire's phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
You are asking the right questions now.
Another message arrived.
Ask your father about the night Michael died.
Claire's face drained of color.
She looked at Daniel.
He did not need to ask what the message said.
He had seen it.
For several seconds he seemed unable to breathe.
“Dad?”
Daniel sat inside the truck.
His eyes were fixed on the steering wheel.
“What happened the night Uncle Michael died?”
He closed his eyes.
“I was there.”
Claire stared.
“You told me you weren't.”
“I know.”
“You told me you were at home.”
“I lied.”
Her voice became quieter.
“Why?”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“Because Michael didn't die in an accident.”
Claire stopped moving.
The parking lot seemed suddenly too bright.
“What are you saying?”
Daniel looked toward the road.
“I think someone killed him.”
Claire's hand went to her mouth.
“And you knew?”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“Then why did you say it was an accident?”
“Because the police said it was.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Daniel looked at his daughter.
“I was afraid.”
“Of who?”
Before he could answer, a car horn sounded behind them.
They turned.
The black sedan had returned.
It stopped at the far end of the parking lot.
Daniel's face changed.
“Get in.”
Claire climbed into the truck.
Daniel started the engine.
The sedan did not move.
It simply watched.
As Daniel pulled away, Claire looked back through the window.
The driver's face was hidden by the windshield glare.
But the car's license plate was clear.
Claire memorized it.
Then she remembered something.
The photograph sent that morning.
The same plate.
She looked at her father.
“Dad.”
“What?”
“That car wasn't following us.”
Daniel glanced at her.
“It was waiting for us.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART4: Daniel Finally Revealed What Happened the Night His Brother Died, and Claire Realized the Person They Were Chasing Had Been Inside Their Family for Years
The Morning Three Pink Notices Arrived, Daniel Learned That the Number on a Government Letter Could Change Everything His Family Thought It Knew
Part 3 of 16
