Chapter 9
Daniel called Rachel.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
By the third call, he was shaking.
“She has the girls.”
Dad immediately stood.
“Where?”
“At home.”
“Call your neighbor.”
Daniel did.
Their next-door neighbor answered.
Daniel asked her to look outside.
She did.
Rachel’s SUV was gone.
The house looked dark.
Daniel’s face collapsed.
“She left.”
The detective asked for Rachel’s phone number, vehicle information and possible locations.
Daniel answered every question.
Then he whispered, “Why would she do this?”
Nobody knew how to answer him.
Maybe because all of us had asked ourselves the same question that day.
Why would Ryan do this?
Why would Mom?
Why would Daniel hide his debt?
Why would Dad hide the trust?
How could people who ate dinner together and celebrated birthdays together carry so many secrets?
Ashley listened to the recording again.
“It could be Rachel.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“You know her?”
“Met her once.”
“When?”
“At the apartment.”
The room exploded.
Daniel stood so fast his chair fell backward.
“What?”
Ashley raised her hands.
“I didn’t know who she was.”
“When?”
“Maybe five weeks ago.”
“What was she doing there?”
“Ryan introduced her as a property manager.”
Daniel stared at Ryan.
Ryan said nothing.
His lawyer had finally succeeded in keeping him quiet.
Daniel moved toward him.
Two officers stepped between them.
“You were meeting my wife?”
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
Daniel shouted.
“You were meeting my wife?”
His attorney said, “Do not respond.”
Daniel laughed.
“Oh, now you know how to shut up.”
Dad grabbed Daniel’s shoulder.
“Think about your daughters.”
That stopped him.
He stepped back.
His face broke.
“My girls.”
The detective asked Ashley what happened when Rachel visited.
“She brought documents.”
“What kind?”
“Lease information. Property records. I didn’t pay attention.”
“Did she discuss the transfers?”
“Not in front of me.”
“Was Ryan alone with her?”
“Yes.”
I felt sick again.
“Were they having an affair?”
Daniel turned toward me as if I had hit him.
I regretted asking it.
But it needed to be asked.
Ashley shook her head.
“I never saw anything romantic.”
Daniel stared at Ryan.
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
Ryan looked away.
Daniel almost moved again.
Dad held him.
The detectives traced Rachel’s phone.
It had been turned off thirty minutes earlier.
Her vehicle was picked up by a traffic camera heading north.
One detective left to coordinate with other officers.
I stood near the kitchen window.
It was getting dark.
That morning, my biggest problem had been a missing mortgage payment.
Now police were searching for my sister-in-law.
I heard Mom behind me.
“I’m sorry.”
I didn’t turn around.
“For which part?”
She started crying.
I was tired of her tears.
Maybe that was cruel.
I didn’t care.
“Did you involve Rachel?”
“No.”
“Did you ever discuss the money with her?”
“Not the transfers.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Mom sighed.
“She knew Daniel was in debt.”
“Everybody knew except Dad and me?”
“Daniel didn’t want anyone to know.”
“You knew.”
“She came to me for help.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
My stomach tightened.
“Before Ryan?”
“Yes.”
“What did she ask?”
“For money.”
“To pay Evan?”
“To keep the house.”
“And you gave it?”
“Some.”
“How much?”
“Twenty thousand.”
I turned around.
“From your secret account?”
“Yes.”
“Did Dad know?”
“No.”
Of course not.
“Then what?”
“She kept asking.”
“And?”
“I told her I couldn’t keep helping.”
“What did she say?”
Mom hesitated.
“She was angry.”
“How angry?”
“She said Daniel was going to destroy their family.”
Daniel heard.
He turned toward us.
“She said what?”
Mom closed her eyes.
“She blamed you.”
Daniel stared at her.
“For my debt?”
“Yes.”
He laughed bitterly.
“She wasn’t wrong.”
Mom shook her head.
“That isn’t what I mean.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What do you mean?”
“She said if you lost the house, she would leave.”
He looked like the air had left his body.
“She never told me that.”
“I thought it was said in anger.”
Daniel sat down.
I felt sorry for him.
Then I remembered how much he had hidden too.
Everyone had a piece of this disaster.
The detective returned.
“We located Mrs. Bennett’s vehicle.”
Daniel stood.
“Where?”
“Parking lot of a hotel near Denton.”
“Are the girls there?”
“We don’t know yet. Local officers are responding.”
“I’m going.”
The detective stopped him.
“Wait.”
“That’s my family.”
“And we don’t know what situation you’re walking into.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“I’m not sitting here.”
Dad said, “We’ll go with police.”
The detective agreed Daniel could travel nearby but not approach until officers cleared the location.
I expected Ryan to remain with investigators.
Instead, officers formally detained him.
The domestic violence investigation had developed enough for an arrest related to the assault.
Financial charges would require more work.
Ryan stood as an officer placed him in handcuffs.
He looked at me.
“This is what you wanted?”
I stared at him.
“You slapped me.”
“You ruined everything over one argument.”
I almost laughed.
“Seven months with Ashley.”
He looked away.
“Stolen money.”
Silence.
“A fake company.”
Nothing.
“Framing me.”
His face hardened.
“And you still think this is about one argument?”
Ryan stared at me.
Then he said quietly, “You’ll regret trusting your family.”
The officer led him away.
For the first time since Dad walked through my front door, Ryan was gone.
And I felt no urge to follow him.
We drove north.
Police reached the hotel first.
Rachel’s SUV was there.
Her room was registered under her name.
Daniel stood beside me in the parking lot.
He kept asking whether the girls were okay.
Nobody knew.
Then two officers came out.
With my nieces.
Both were crying.
Daniel ran toward them.
“Daddy!”
The girls rushed into his arms.
He dropped to his knees and held both.
I cried for the first time that day.
Real tears.
Not for Ryan.
Not for my marriage.
For those girls.
They were innocent.
They had no idea what the adults around them had done.
Rachel came out several minutes later.
An officer walked beside her.
She wasn’t handcuffed.
Not yet.
Daniel stood.
“What did you do?”
Rachel looked at him.
Her face was exhausted.
“I protected our daughters.”
“From who?”
“You.”
Daniel flinched.
She looked at Dad.
Then Mom.
Then me.
“You were all going to let us lose everything.”
Dad said, “So you helped steal from my company?”
Rachel’s eyes flashed.
“You have more money than you could spend in ten lifetimes.”
Dad’s face hardened.
“That does not make it yours.”
“Daniel worked for you.”
“For four years.”
“And you fired him.”
Daniel said, “I quit.”
Rachel looked at him.
“You were forced out.”
“No.”
“They embarrassed you.”
“I left because I wanted my own company.”
“And then it failed.”
Daniel looked ashamed.
Rachel’s anger rose.
“You watched him drown.”
Dad stared at her.
“I didn’t know he was drowning.”
“Because he was too proud to tell you.”
“That isn’t my fault.”
“No. But you could have helped.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Stop blaming everyone.”
Rachel looked at him.
“I was trying to save our house.”
“By stealing?”
“I didn’t steal anything.”
I spoke.
“We heard the recording.”
Her face changed.
There it was.
Guilt.
Daniel saw it.
“Rachel.”
She closed her eyes.
“You were going to lose the house.”
“So you worked with Ryan?”
“He said he had a way to move family money.”
“Family money?” Dad repeated.
Rachel looked at him.
“You built that company while Mom raised us.”
Mom whispered, “Rachel.”
“You deserved part of it.”
Dad laughed without humor.
“You don’t get to decide ownership because you resent me.”
Rachel looked at me.
“And you.”
I stared at her.
“What about me?”
“You never struggled.”
I almost couldn’t believe it.
“You think that justifies putting a stolen company in my name?”
She looked away.
So she knew.
Daniel stepped between us.
“Answer her.”
Rachel started crying.
“Ryan said it would only be temporary.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Of course he did.”
“He said Westbrook would hold the money until Mom had enough to help us.”
Mom stared at her.
“I never agreed to use her name.”
“I didn’t know that at first.”
I laughed.
Everyone had a version of the same excuse.
I didn’t know.
I trusted him.
I was scared.
I needed help.
Daniel asked, “Did you give Ryan my information?”
Rachel nodded.
“Yes.”
His face broke.
“You opened the account.”
“I helped.”
“Why?”
“To receive the escrow refund.”
“Where is the money?”
She looked toward the police.
“I don’t have it.”
Dad stepped closer.
“Then who does?”
“Ryan moved it.”
“Ashley’s records show the account was accessed from Daniel’s old office.”
Rachel nodded.
“I went there.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You still had a key?”
“I kept one.”
“You told me you returned it.”
“I didn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed somewhere private.”
Daniel looked devastated.
Rachel continued.
“Ryan met me there.”
“When?”
“Two days ago.”
“The day the money moved?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He transferred it out.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were standing there.”
“He used his laptop.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That Evan would get part and the rest would be protected.”
“Protected where?”
Rachel shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
The detective asked, “Did you record your conversation with Ryan?”
Rachel froze.
Dad looked at her.
“The audio.”
She nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I stopped trusting him.”
I understood that feeling.
The detective asked, “Did you send it to her?”
Rachel looked at me.
“Yes.”
“Why anonymously?”
“I was scared.”
“Did you send the warehouse picture?”
“No.”
Everyone went still.
The detective frowned.
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
He showed her the message.
Rachel stared at it.
“I’ve never seen that picture.”
Daniel asked, “Did Ryan send it?”
“I don’t know.”
Dad looked at the detective.
“If not Rachel and not Evan, who?”
Rachel suddenly looked terrified.
“What?”
She grabbed Daniel’s arm.
“What?”
“Ryan said somebody else was involved.”
“Who?”
“He never gave me a name.”
“Male or female?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he say?”
Rachel thought.
“He said there was someone inside the company who could fix the records if things went wrong.”
Dad went still.
“Inside my company?”
“Yes.”
My father’s face changed.
He pulled out his phone.
He called his CFO.
David.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Dad looked at the time.
David always answered.
Especially during an emergency.
He called the warehouse manager.
The man picked up immediately.
Dad asked one question.
“Is David there?”
The answer made his face drain.
He lowered the phone.
“What?” I asked.
Dad looked at us.
“David left the warehouse twenty minutes ago.”
May you like
“So?”
“He took the company’s backup server with him.”
