Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN
David was taken downstairs.
Jessica followed the detectives voluntarily.
But before she left, she stopped beside my bed.
She looked at me for a long time.
"I am sorry."
I stared at her.
She lowered her voice.
"I really didn't know."
My computer remained silent.
She swallowed.
"But there is something you need to know."
Samuel stepped closer.
"What?"
Jessica looked toward the hallway.
"David wasn't alone the night he first talked about killing her."
Samuel's expression changed.
"Who was there?"
Jessica shook her head.
"I never met him."
"Who?"
She hesitated.
"An accountant."
David's accountant.
Samuel immediately asked,
"What was his name?"
Jessica whispered:
"Thomas Reed."
Samuel went still.
I knew that name.
Thomas Reed had worked for one of my companies for eleven years.
He had been with me before David.
Before my marriage.
Before the fortune.
He knew every major trust.
Every holding company.
Every property.
Every investment structure.
If Thomas was involved, this wasn't simply a jealous husband trying to steal a fortune.
Someone had studied my finances.
Someone had identified the parts David couldn't access.
Someone had built a plan around my death.
Carter wrote down the name.
"Where can we find him?"
Jessica shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then she looked at me.
"But David does."
David was brought back into the room.
Carter confronted him immediately.
"Thomas Reed."
David's face changed.
It was subtle.
But I saw it.
His eyes shifted toward the window.
That was enough.
Carter noticed too.
"You know him."
David remained silent.
Samuel stepped forward.
"Tell them."
David laughed.
"You think you're so smart."
Samuel didn't react.
"You were always her favorite."
David looked at me.
"She trusted you."
Samuel's voice remained calm.
"Because I earned it."
David laughed again.
"You have no idea what she did."
I stared at him.
He stepped closer.
"You think you're innocent?"
Carter moved between us.
"Back up."
David ignored him.
"You built that fortune by destroying people."
Samuel interrupted.
"Enough."
David smiled.
"She never told you."
I stared at him.
Then my computer activated.
Tell them.
David looked at the screen.
"What?"
Another message appeared.
Tell them everything.
He smiled.
"You really want to know?"
I stared at him.
Yes.
David looked at Carter.
"She had a partner."
Samuel frowned.
"What partner?"
"Years ago."
David's smile disappeared.
"Before me."
Carter asked,
"Name?"
David hesitated.
"Michael."
I felt my heart stop.
Michael.
There were very few people in my past who knew that name.
And only one person who knew why it mattered.
My first business partner.
Michael Whitmore.
My younger brother.
Everyone believed he had died twelve years ago.
A boating accident.
No body was ever recovered.
But legally, he had been declared dead.
David continued.
"He didn't die."
The room went silent.
Samuel looked at me.
My eyes were wide.
David whispered:
"Your brother is alive."
I tried to move.
Nothing happened.
My body was still too weak.
Samuel turned toward David.
"Where?"
David shook his head.
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I swear."
Carter leaned closer.
"Then why mention him?"
David looked at me.
"Because he's the only person who knows what she did."
I couldn't understand.
What had Michael known?
What had David discovered?
Then the door opened again.
An officer entered.
"Detective."
Carter turned.
"We found something in the garage."
"What?"
"A second vehicle."
David looked alarmed.
"That's impossible."
The officer continued.
"Registered under the name Michael Whitmore."
My blood ran cold.
Carter looked at David.
"Your brother-in-law?"
David shook his head.
"He isn't my brother-in-law."
Carter stared.
"Then who is he?"
David whispered:
"He's the man who owns the company that poisoned her."
I looked at Samuel.
Samuel looked genuinely shocked.
Then the lights in the house went out.
Every screen went black.
The security system shut down.
For five seconds, there was complete darkness.
Then my eye-tracking computer flickered back on.
A message appeared.
Not from Samuel.
Not from the police.
A single sentence.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME DIE.
May you like
And underneath it was a name.
MICHAEL.
