Chapter 9 - The Woman in the Photograph
I stared at the photograph for almost a full minute before I could breathe again.
The woman standing beside Daniel was smiling.
Daniel wasn't.
That was the first thing I noticed.
My husband had always smiled in photographs.
Birthdays.
Christmas.
Family vacations.
Even during difficult years, he smiled whenever someone pointed a camera at him.
But in this photograph, he looked tense.
Almost afraid.
The woman had one hand resting on his arm.
I didn't recognize her.
“I've never seen her,” I whispered.
Chloe looked at me.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Robert took the photograph.
“Where did Damian get this?”
“The message came from an encrypted account.”
He examined the image.
“There's a date.”
I leaned closer.
Three days before Daniel died.
My stomach turned.
“Find her,” I said.
Robert nodded.
His investigator began searching immediately.
Meanwhile, federal agents were reviewing the evidence we'd recovered from The Hearth.
For the first time, we had something Damian couldn't erase.
Records.
Contracts.
Audio.
Financial transfers.
And witnesses.
But Damian was still free.
That bothered me.
A man like him didn't disappear because he was frightened.
He disappeared because he was planning.
Late that afternoon, Robert received a call.
“We found her.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
“The woman in the photograph.”
“Where?”
“Savannah.”
We drove there that evening.
Her name was Katherine Blake.
She was fifty-seven.
She lived alone in a modest house near the coast.
When she opened the door and saw me, she immediately started crying.
“You're Margaret.”
I couldn't speak.
She nodded toward the photograph in Robert's hand.
“I wondered when you'd find me.”
“You knew my husband?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
She stepped aside.
“Come in.”
Her living room contained dozens of boxes.
Old documents.
Photographs.
Newspaper clippings.
Katherine sat down.
“Daniel came to me because he was afraid.”
“Of Richard Prescott?”
“Yes.”
“What did you have to do with him?”
“I worked for Richard.”
My stomach tightened.
“Doing what?”
“Accounting.”
Robert leaned forward.
“You handled Prescott company finances?”
“Yes.”
“And Daniel discovered irregularities?”
“He discovered far more than irregularities.”
“What?”
“Richard was using several businesses to hide money.”
“How much?”
“Millions.”
I looked at her.
“And Damian?”
Katherine nodded.
“Damian was involved.”
“But he was barely eighteen.”
“He was young, not innocent.”
She opened a box.
Inside were financial ledgers.
“He understood computers. He helped Richard move money between accounts.”
Robert studied the documents.
“Why did Daniel trust you?”
“He didn't.”
I frowned.
“He suspected everyone.”
“Then why meet you?”
“Because I was the only person who had proof.”
Katherine handed Robert a file.
“Daniel wanted to expose Richard.”
“What stopped him?”
“Fear.”
“Of Richard?”
“No.”
She looked directly at me.
“Of Damian.”
I felt a chill.
“Why?”
“Because Damian was worse.”
She explained that Richard was greedy.
Damian was strategic.
Richard wanted money.
Damian wanted control.
“He learned from his father,” Katherine said. “But eventually he became more ambitious than him.”
“What did Daniel plan to do?”
“Take the evidence to federal authorities.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Katherine's eyes filled with tears.
“Because Damian found out.”
Robert looked at the old ledger.
“What happened next?”
Katherine hesitated.
“Daniel came to see me the night before he died.”
My hands went cold.
“What did he say?”
“He said he had changed his mind.”
“Why?”
“He said someone had threatened his family.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“And Chloe?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Katherine continued.
“He gave me a package.”
“What package?”
“A copy of the financial records.”
“Do you still have it?”
She nodded.
“That's why I've been waiting.”
She disappeared into another room.
When she returned, she carried a metal box.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
A cassette tape.
And one handwritten note.
I recognized Daniel's handwriting.
Katherine — If I don't make it home, protect Margaret and Chloe.
My knees nearly gave out.
Robert picked up the cassette.
“Do you have a player?”
Katherine nodded.
We listened.
Daniel's voice filled the room.
“Katherine, if you're hearing this, something happened to me.”
His voice shook.
“Richard believes I stole money from him. I didn't. The money belongs to my daughter.”
Chloe covered her mouth.
Daniel continued.
“Years ago, Richard created a trust using money he obtained illegally. He intended to use it as leverage. I moved the funds into an account for Chloe.”
Robert looked at me.
The trust.
My daughter's trust.
Daniel continued.
“Damian knows about the account.”
The recording paused.
Then:
“He may try to marry Chloe someday.”
Chloe began crying.
I couldn't breathe.
Daniel had predicted it.
Twenty-six years earlier.
He had known.
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
Then Robert noticed something written on the cassette case.
A number.
He entered it into the computer.
It matched a bank account.
An account still active.
“What's that?” I asked.
Robert looked at me.
“Another trust.”
“How much?”
He stared at the balance.
“Seven hundred thousand dollars.”
Chloe gasped.
“There's still money?”
“Yes.”
Robert smiled for the first time in days.
“Damian didn't get everything.”
Then Katherine spoke.
“He knows about that account.”
My smile disappeared.
“How?”
“Because Daniel told me.”
“What?”
“Daniel said the trust had a second beneficiary.”
“Who?”
Katherine looked at me.
“You.”
I froze.
“Me?”
She nodded.
“Daniel transferred control to you.”
Robert checked the records.
Then his expression changed.
“Margaret…”
“What?”
“The account has been untouched for twenty-six years.”
“Why?”
“Because someone tried to access it last week.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who?”
Robert showed me the request.
The name was:
Damian Prescott.
He had failed.
May you like
But now he knew the money existed.
And he knew exactly where to find us.
