Chapter 4 - THE MAN IN THE PARKING LOT
I didn't tell Daniel about the call.
Not yet.
For the first time, I wasn't sure who I could trust.
The following morning, I hired an attorney named Rachel Monroe.
She was forty-eight, sharp-eyed, and completely unimpressed by family drama.
I showed her the statements.
She studied them silently.
When she reached the total, she looked up.
"Did you authorize these?"
"No."
"Did your husband?"
"Some."
"Did he understand the full amount?"
"I don't think so."
Rachel closed the folder.
"Then we're dealing with more than a family disagreement."
"What are we dealing with?"
"Potential financial fraud."
The words sounded enormous.
Scary.
Real.
"What should I do?"
"Don't confront Margaret again."
"I already did."
"Don't do it anymore."
"Why?"
"Because people who manipulate money don't usually stop when they're exposed. They escalate."
She was right.
That afternoon, someone followed me from the courthouse.
I noticed the black SUV behind me.
It stayed two cars back for six blocks.
When I turned into a grocery store parking lot, it followed.
I parked near the entrance.
The SUV stopped.
A man stepped out.
He looked around sixty.
Gray jacket.
Baseball cap.
He approached slowly.
"Ava Whitmore?"
I stepped back.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Thomas Reed."
"I don't know you."
"No."
He glanced toward the store.
"But your father-in-law knew me."
I froze.
"My father-in-law?"
"Richard Whitmore."
"What about him?"
"He hired me before he died."
"For what?"
"To investigate his wife."
My heart pounded.
"Margaret?"
Thomas nodded.
"Richard knew something was wrong."
"What?"
"Money was disappearing."
"How much?"
"At first, he thought it was a few thousand dollars."
"And then?"
"Millions."
I couldn't speak.
Thomas reached into his jacket and handed me an envelope.
"Don't open this here."
"What is it?"
"Copies of documents Richard collected before he died."
"Why give them to me?"
"Because he told me that if anything happened to him, I was supposed to give them to Daniel."
I swallowed.
"Why didn't you?"
Thomas looked away.
"Because Margaret found out about my investigation."
"What did she do?"
"I lost my job."
He lowered his voice.
"Then I received a warning."
"What kind?"
"The kind you don't ignore."
He walked away.
I stood in the parking lot holding the envelope.
Inside were bank records.
Property deeds.
Insurance policies.
And photographs.
One photograph showed Margaret standing beside a man I had never seen before.
The back was dated two years after Richard's death.
Underneath, Richard had written:
"Who is Edward Kane?"
Rachel and I searched the name.
Edward Kane was a financial adviser.
He had worked with Margaret.
But there was more.
He had also represented Caroline.
And Daniel.
And somehow, he had been connected to every account where our money disappeared.
Rachel looked at me.
"Have you heard this name before?"
"No."
She tapped the photograph.
"Then I'd like to meet him."
We did.
Edward agreed to meet at a café.
He arrived nervous.
The moment he saw me, he said,
"You shouldn't be here."
"Why?"
"Because Margaret will know."
"She already knows."
He sat down.
Rachel placed the photograph on the table.
Edward stared at it.
"Where did you get this?"
"My father-in-law."
He closed his eyes.
"Richard figured it out."
"What did he figure out?"
Edward looked at us.
"Your mother-in-law wasn't stealing money from you."
I frowned.
"What?"
"She was moving it."
"Where?"
He leaned forward.
"Into a trust."
Rachel stiffened.
"What trust?"
Edward looked at me.
"The trust your husband was supposed to inherit."
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"Then why hide it?"
Edward's answer changed everything.
"Because the trust has one condition."
"What condition?"
May you like
He whispered,
"Daniel can only inherit if Margaret is declared legally incapable of controlling the family estate."
