Chapter 5 - THE BROTHER WHO NEVER DIED
The power returned three minutes later.
By then, Detective Carter had placed the entire house under lockdown.
Nobody was allowed to leave.
Nobody was allowed to touch a computer.
Nobody was allowed near the security room.
I stared at the message still displayed on my screen.
Michael.
My brother.
Alive.
Samuel stood beside me.
"Do you recognize the message?"
I moved my eyes.
Yes.
"Did Michael ever threaten you?"
I hesitated.
Then typed:
No.
Samuel looked confused.
"Then why would he want you dead?"
I didn't know.
Or maybe I knew more than I wanted to admit.
Twelve years earlier, Michael and I had built the first version of my company together.
He was brilliant.
Fearless.
Obsessed with expansion.
I wanted to build something lasting.
Michael wanted to build an empire.
Eventually, we fought.
He wanted to take risks I considered reckless.
I refused.
He left.
Three months later, his boat disappeared.
The police found debris.
No body.
Everyone assumed he was dead.
I never did.
But I eventually forced myself to accept it.
Until now.
Carter entered with a laptop.
"We traced the message."
Samuel looked up.
"Where?"
"Three locations."
"Three?"
Carter nodded.
"Someone is bouncing the signal."
David suddenly laughed.
Everyone turned toward him.
"You'll never find him."
Carter walked closer.
"Who?"
David shook his head.
"You think this is about me?"
He looked at me.
"It never was."
I typed:
Then what is it about?
David stared at the screen.
"Your company."
Samuel frowned.
"What about it?"
David looked at me.
"You know what you built."
I typed:
My company is legitimate.
He laughed.
"That's what you think."
Samuel stepped forward.
"Explain."
David shook his head.
"No."
Carter grabbed his chair.
"Then we'll let the prosecutor explain it."
David finally spoke.
"Michael discovered something."
"What?"
"He found money."
Samuel's expression changed.
"What money?"
"Money hidden inside one of her trusts."
I stared at him.
David continued.
"Billions."
Samuel frowned.
"My client has billions."
"Not like this."
David leaned forward.
"There was an account nobody knew about."
Samuel looked at me.
"Did you know?"
I typed:
No.
David smiled.
"Exactly."
That frightened me.
Because I knew every account.
Every trust.
Every corporation.
Every property.
Or I thought I did.
Carter asked,
"Where is the account?"
David shook his head.
"Michael knows."
"And you?"
"I only know the account exists."
"Who else?"
David looked toward the ceiling.
"Thomas Reed."
There it was again.
Thomas.
Carter immediately ordered officers to locate him.
But before they could move, one detective rushed inside.
"Sir, we found a body."
The room froze.
Carter stood.
"Where?"
"Outside."
Everyone followed him.
A black sedan was parked near the rear gate.
The driver's door was open.
Inside was a man.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Blood on his shirt.
Carter approached cautiously.
Then stopped.
"Thomas Reed."
Samuel went pale.
Thomas was dead.
His hand was closed around something.
A tiny brass key.
Carter carefully removed it.
There was a number engraved on the metal.
317.
Samuel looked at me.
"Do you know what that means?"
I typed:
No.
David suddenly whispered:
"Yes."
Everyone turned.
David stared at the key.
"That's the number of her private vault."
My stomach tightened.
I had never told David about it.
He couldn't possibly know.
Carter looked at me.
"You have a private vault?"
I typed:
Yes.
"Where?"
I hesitated.
Then typed:
Chicago.
David smiled.
"Then we're already too late."
Carter asked,
"Why?"
David looked toward the dead man.
"Because if Thomas had the key..."
He stopped.
I waited.
He finally whispered:
"Michael already has the contents."
My computer suddenly flickered.
A new message appeared.
COME TO CHICAGO.
Then another.
ALONE.
Then a final message.
OR DAVID DIES BEFORE HE CAN TELL YOU THE TRUTH.
Everyone looked at David.
His face was white.
For the first time, he looked afraid for his own life.
And I realized something terrifying.
May you like
Michael wasn't simply trying to kill me.
He was controlling everyone around me.
