Chapter 9 - THE MAN BEHIND THE MONEY
Thomas looked like he had been struck.
“My father?”
Claire stared at him.
“Your father ordered my grandfather's murder?”
Thomas shook his head.
“I didn't know.”
Her father stepped closer.
“He did.”
Thomas's face hardened.
“You're lying.”
“I have proof.”
Thomas laughed bitterly.
“You've been hiding for twenty-two years.”
“To keep Claire alive.”
“Don't use her as an excuse.”
Owen stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Thomas looked at Owen.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew.”
Owen's eyes hardened.
“I knew your father was involved.”
Thomas turned toward Claire.
“I swear to you, I didn't.”
Claire believed him.
That frightened her.
Because if Thomas was telling the truth, then the enemy was still alive.
Her father placed the original ledger on the table.
“Look at the last page.”
Claire opened it.
There was only one name.
WILLIAM HALE.
Thomas's father.
But beneath his name was another line.
AUTHORIZED BY—
Blank.
Claire frowned.
“Who authorized him?”
Her father shook his head.
“We never found out.”
Thomas looked at the page.
“I can.”
Everyone turned.
Thomas took a pen.
“Every financial transfer in my father's organization had a secondary approval.”
“Who?”
“A trustee.”
“Your father?”
“No.”
Thomas looked at Claire.
“The trustee was anonymous.”
Owen's eyes narrowed.
“Find the records.”
Thomas opened his laptop.
Within minutes, old financial records appeared.
Transfer after transfer.
Account after account.
The same approval code.
RB-117.
Claire stared.
“Robert Bennett?”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
“What then?”
“R.B. wasn't Robert Bennett.”
Claire froze.
“What?”
Thomas enlarged the record.
The initials stood beside a digital signature.
“R.B. means Royal Beneficiary.”
Claire stared.
“The trust has a beneficiary?”
Thomas nodded.
“One.”
“Who?”
He opened the final document.
The name appeared.
CLAIRE BENNETT.
She stopped breathing.
Her father closed his eyes.
Her mother began crying.
Owen looked at Claire.
Thomas whispered:
“Your grandfather didn't make you the heir.”
Claire looked at him.
“He made you the owner.”
Silence.
Then the mansion lights flickered.
Owen's security chief rushed inside.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“Talk.”
“Banks are freezing Mercer accounts.”
Thomas looked at his screen.
“Not just Mercer.”
He clicked rapidly.
“Hale accounts too.”
Owen frowned.
“Who has access?”
Thomas went pale.
“Someone is liquidating everything.”
Claire looked at him.
“Everything?”
“Businesses. Properties. Offshore accounts.”
“How?”
Thomas whispered:
“Using the trust's master authority.”
Her father stepped forward.
“That's impossible.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
He turned his laptop.
“It means someone has the original authorization key.”
Claire touched her crescent necklace.
Thomas stared.
“No.”
Claire's blood ran cold.
“What?”
“The pendant isn't the key to the trust.”
“Then what is it?”
Thomas looked at her.
“It activates the key.”
Owen's eyes narrowed.
“Where is the master key?”
Thomas answered:
“Inside the vault.”
Claire stared.
“But we opened it.”
“Not completely.”
He ran to the vault.
They followed.
Thomas examined the brass mechanism.
He found a hidden compartment.
Inside was a small black chip.
He inserted it into the laptop.
The screen displayed:
BENEFICIARY VERIFIED.
Then:
TRANSFER AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Claire stepped forward.
“What happens if I authorize?”
Thomas looked at her.
“You gain control of every asset connected to the trust.”
“And if I don't?”
“Someone else can.”
A countdown appeared.
10:00.
Nine minutes fifty-nine seconds.
Claire stared.
“Who is trying to take it?”
Thomas looked at the screen.
A name appeared.
HARRISON HALE.
Thomas whispered:
“My brother.”
The countdown continued.
Then another name appeared beneath it.
AUTHORIZED BY:
THOMAS HALE.
Thomas's face went white.
“I didn't do this.”
Claire stared at him.
The system beeped.
TRANSFER APPROVED.
Thomas collapsed into the chair.
Owen looked at Claire.
“Someone has his credentials.”
Claire whispered:
“Or someone has been Thomas all along.”
Then the screen displayed a live video.
Harrison appeared.
Beside him stood another man.
Claire stared at the stranger.
Her father stepped backward.
“No.”
Claire turned.
“Who is that?”
Her father whispered:
“Your grandfather.”
Claire's heart stopped.
The man on the screen looked exactly like Robert Bennett.
Older.
May you like
Alive.
And smiling.
