Chapter 14 - In the Dark
Emergency lights flickered red along the boardroom walls.
Michael shouted Emily’s name.
She answered from three feet away.
“I’m here!”
Sophia was gone.
The fire alarm had been triggered manually from a service corridor. By the time security cleared the building, Sophia had vanished through the loading dock.
Victor Hale had not.
Federal agents took him away in handcuffs while he demanded a lawyer.
Michael barely watched.
He was staring at Emily’s wrist where Sophia’s fingers had left red marks.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m furious.”
“That counts as okay for today.”
She almost smiled.
Reese approached. “Sophia left a car in the garage. We’re tracking exits.”
Helen whispered, “She said Victor wasn’t the one she feared.”
Arthur Bell looked uneasy.
Michael noticed. “What?”
Arthur shook his head.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Emily asked.
Arthur sat down.
“Victor handled the money. Sophia handled Thomas. But there was someone else who approved the shell companies.”
“Who?”
Arthur looked at Daniel.
Daniel’s face hardened. “Don’t look at me.”
“I’m not.”
Arthur turned toward Helen.
Helen stared back.
“No.”
Arthur said, “The approvals used your credentials.”
Helen went pale.
“I never approved those transfers.”
“Then someone had your access.”
Michael remembered how often Sophia had visited their mother’s house.
Emily said, “Sophia.”
Arthur shook his head. “Not the earliest transfers. Those started before Sophia joined the foundation board.”
The room went quiet.
Reese asked, “Who had Helen’s credentials then?”
Helen slowly sat down.
“Thomas.”
Michael stared. “Dad?”
Arthur nodded reluctantly. “At least, that’s what the system logs say.”
Michael’s anger flashed. “You’re saying my father stole from his own foundation?”
“I’m saying somebody wanted it to look that way.”
Emily’s mind moved faster.
“If Victor was framing Thomas before Thomas discovered the theft, then this started years earlier.”
Reese’s phone buzzed.
A patrol officer had found Sophia’s getaway vehicle.
Inside was a burner phone.
One saved contact.
No name.
Just the letter M.
The last text from M had arrived during the board meeting.
GET OUT NOW. HE KNOWS ABOUT THOMAS.
Michael looked at Reese.
“M could be anyone.”
Mason, who had been brought in with a protection officer, spoke from the doorway.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
He looked frightened.
“Aunt Sophia calls somebody ‘M’ all the time.”
Michael crouched. “Who?”
May you like
Mason swallowed.
“Grandma’s doctor.”
