Chapter 6
Ruiz touched the camera on her chest.
“Would you like to repeat that, Sergeant?”
Mercer stepped back.
“I said the prisoner should remain quiet until his attorney is present.”
“My attorney is standing right there,” Dad said.
Rebecca moved beside the bed.
Mercer ordered the guard to remove us.
Ruiz refused to leave Noah and me alone with him.
Their argument brought a hospital supervisor into the room.
Mercer finally walked out.
Before leaving, he glanced at Dad’s water cup.
Dad followed his gaze.
“Don’t drink anything unless Rebecca opens it,” he whispered.
The attack in jail hadn’t been random.
An inmate had approached Dad during breakfast and said, “Melissa sends her love.”
Then he struck him with a metal tray.
Dad believed someone wanted him dead before the hearing.
Rebecca requested protective custody.
Ruiz called Internal Affairs.
Two hours later, Dad was moved to a guarded medical unit.
The next morning, Melissa appeared in court.
Her attorney claimed the belt belonged to Dad and that she had been protecting us from him.
Then Mercer submitted a statement saying he had seen Dad threaten her.
“He arrived after Dad,” I whispered.
Rebecca nodded.
“He’s building her defense.”
The prosecutor played audio from the 911 call.
A woman’s terrified voice begged police to hurry.
“My husband is attacking the children,” she cried. “He killed his first wife. He’s going to kill us too.”
The call had been made eleven minutes before Dad arrived home.
Melissa had planned everything.
Then another voice appeared in the background.
Noah’s.
“Please stop hitting Emma.”
The courtroom fell silent.
Melissa’s attorney stopped the recording.
But it was too late.
The judge ordered Melissa held without contact with us.
For one brief moment, I thought we had won.
Then Rebecca received a message from Dad’s company.
Thomas Carter had called an emergency board meeting.
He intended to remove Dad as chief executive because of the murder charge.
If he succeeded, he would gain control of all company records.
Rebecca asked the judge for access before the meeting.
The request was denied.
We rushed to the company headquarters.
Thomas met us in the lobby.
He looked like Dad, only younger and harder.
He hugged Noah.
Noah pulled away.
“I’m trying to protect the business,” Thomas said.
“From your brother?” Rebecca asked.
“From scandal.”
“Sarah believed someone here was stealing.”
Thomas’s face remained calm.
“Sarah believed many things near the end.”
I stepped toward him.
“What does that mean?”
“She was frightened. Confused.”
“My mother was not confused.”
Thomas smiled sadly.
“Emma, you were ten. You didn’t see everything.”
He had security escort us out.
As we reached the doors, a woman from accounting slipped a flash drive into my hand.
“Your mother trusted me,” she whispered.
Her badge identified her as Laura Bennett.
Thomas noticed us speaking.
“Laura.”
She froze.
“My office. Now.”
Laura looked at me.
“Find Project Bluebird.”
Security took her away.
That evening, Rebecca opened the flash drive on an old computer disconnected from the internet.
It contained hundreds of payments to fake construction firms.
Every payment was authorized by Melissa.
But the final approval belonged to someone else.
Daniel Carter.
My father.
Noah stared at the screen.
“Dad stole the money?”
Rebecca shook her head slowly.
“The signatures could be forged.”
I enlarged one document.
Dad’s signature looked perfect.
Then I saw the date.
It had been approved while Dad was in the hospital with Noah after an emergency appendectomy.
Only three people had access to Dad’s digital signing key.
Dad.
Thomas.
And Melissa.
A video file sat at the bottom of the drive.
I opened it.
Mom appeared on the screen.
She looked terrified.
“If you’re watching this,” she said, “something happened to me.”
A shadow moved behind her.
May you like
Mom turned.
The recording ended with the sound of a door opening.
