Chapter 9: The Teller's Confession
The abandoned office building stood three blocks from the river.
Its windows were boarded up, its entrance covered in graffiti, and its parking lot filled with broken glass.
David Whitmore arrived at 10:43 p.m.
He had told the police where he was going, but he hadn't told them everything.
He knew the message was probably a trap.
Still, if Patricia Collins possessed information about the missing $48 million, he couldn't ignore it.
He parked beneath a streetlight and stepped out.
A side door opened.
Patricia appeared.
She looked nothing like the woman who had stood behind the polished bank counter that afternoon.
Her hair was disheveled.
Her blouse was wrinkled.
She kept looking over her shoulder.
“Mr. Whitmore?””
“Patricia.””
She grabbed his sleeve.
“You shouldn't have come.””
David frowned.
“You sent the message.””
“No. I didn't.””
He immediately stepped back.
“Then who did?””
Patricia looked toward the dark windows.
“Someone has been following me since I left the bank.””
David reached for his phone.
“Did you contact the police?””
She shook her head.
“I don't know who I can trust.””
“Start by telling me why you're here.””
Patricia opened her handbag and removed a small flash drive.
“Because I kept copies.””
David stared at it.
“Copies of what?””
“The original transfers. The shell company accounts. The names of everyone who received money.””
“Why didn't you report this years ago?””
Patricia laughed bitterly.
“Because I was afraid.””
David looked at her.
“You were working in the executive accounting division when the investigation began.””
She nodded.
“I was thirty-two. I had just bought my first house. My husband was unemployed, and we had a daughter in elementary school.””
“What happened?””
Patricia looked down at the flash drive.
“Thomas came to my office one evening. He told me there was a discrepancy in the charitable accounts and asked me to correct the records.””
“Correct them how?””
“By changing the transaction descriptions. He said the transfers were temporary and would be reversed.””
“And you believed him?””
“At first.””
She swallowed.
“Then I saw where the money was going.””
David leaned against the wall.
“Who received it?””
“Three companies registered under false names. One was in Delaware. Another was in the Cayman Islands. The third was registered under a company that supposedly manufactured medical equipment.””
David's eyes narrowed.
“Medical equipment?””
Patricia nodded.
“Thomas used the charity funds to purchase property, pay personal debts, and finance a private political campaign.””
“How much?””
“Forty-eight million, two hundred thousand dollars.””
David stared.
“And Evelyn discovered it?””
“She discovered it before I did. She called me into her office and asked whether I understood what those transactions meant.””
“What did you tell her?””
Patricia began crying.
“I told her everything.””
David waited.
“She promised she would protect me if I testified. But Thomas found out.””
“How?””
Patricia shook her head.
“I don't know. Two days later, my husband lost his job. Someone broke into our house. My daughter came home from school with a photograph of our family left in her backpack.””
David's expression hardened.
“Did you report it?””
“I tried. Thomas knew the police commissioner. Every complaint disappeared.””
“So you stayed silent.””
“I resigned.””
“And took the flash drive?””
Patricia nodded.
“I kept the original files. I thought one day someone might need them.””
David looked at her.
“Why did you come to the bank today?””
Patricia wiped her cheeks.
“Because when I saw Jayden's name, I recognized the trust seal. Evelyn had told me that one day the child would come.””
David frowned.
“What exactly did she tell you?””
Patricia looked toward the entrance.
“She told me that if a little boy ever walked into the bank carrying a baby, I should remember the promise I made to her.””
David studied her.
“What promise?””
Patricia's voice broke.
“That I would never let Thomas hurt another child.””
David looked at the flash drive.
“Then why did you refuse to help him?””
Patricia lowered her head.
“Because I panicked. I saw the seal, and I knew Thomas would find out. I thought if I sent the boy away, I could protect him.””
“You humiliated him.””
“I know.””
“You made him believe nobody wanted to help.””
“I know.””
David's voice softened slightly.
“Then you need to apologize to him yourself.””
Patricia nodded.
“I want to.””
Suddenly, a car engine roared outside.
Patricia grabbed David's arm.
“That's them.””
A black sedan stopped in front of the building.
Two men stepped out.
One carried a metal case.
The other held a phone.
David immediately called the police.
“I'm at the Franklin Street office building. Two unidentified men have arrived. Possible armed threat.””
The operator asked for his exact location.
David gave it.
Patricia backed toward the interior hallway.
“They're here for the drive.””
David looked at her.
“Is there another copy?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
He slipped the flash drive into his inside jacket pocket.
“Then we make sure they don't get it.””
The side door slammed open.
A man entered.
“Mr. Whitmore.””
David recognized him.
It was the same man who had been standing beside Thomas outside the bank.
“Where is the drive?”” the man demanded.
David said nothing.
The man removed a photograph from his coat.
It showed Patricia's daughter leaving school.
“Give us the drive, and the girl stays safe.””
Patricia gasped.
“No!””
David stepped forward.
“Leave her daughter out of this.””
The man smiled.
“You have thirty seconds.””
Patricia suddenly moved toward David.
“Give it to him.””
David stared.
“What?””
“Please. My daughter—”
“Patricia, don't.””
She grabbed his jacket.
“They'll hurt her!””
David held her shoulders.
“Listen to me. The police are coming.””
The man laughed.
“Not fast enough.””
Then a siren sounded in the distance.
The two men exchanged a glance.
One of them pulled a small device from his pocket and threw it toward the floor.
A sharp flash filled the room.
David shielded his eyes.
When his vision returned, the men were gone.
So was Patricia.
He rushed toward the entrance.
“Patricia!””
No answer.
Her handbag lay on the floor.
The photograph of her daughter had been left behind.
David called her name again.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
The flash drive is not the only evidence. Ask Evelyn what happened on the night she disappeared.
David stared at the screen.
Another message followed.
Your founder wasn't trying to escape Thomas. She was trying to escape you.
David felt his stomach drop.
He immediately called Margaret.
She answered on the first ring.
“David?””
“Is Evelyn there?””
“Yes. She's sitting with Jayden.””
“Put her on the phone.””
A moment later, Evelyn's voice came through.
“David?””
“I need you to tell me something.””
“What?””
“Patricia says you disappeared because you were trying to escape someone. She claims the original records were connected to a betrayal inside the bank.””
Evelyn went silent.
“David, where is Patricia?””
“She's missing.””
“Then we don't have much time.””
“Who was she afraid of?””
Evelyn hesitated.
Then she said something that made David stop breathing.
“Your father.””
David stared at the phone.
“My father died twenty years ago.””
“I know what the official records say.””
“What are you talking about?””
“Your father was Bennett National's original security director. He discovered Thomas's first attempt to steal the charitable funds.””
David shook his head.
“That isn't possible.””
Evelyn's voice trembled.
“Your father didn't die in that car accident, David. He was murdered.””
David felt the wall behind him.
“Why are you telling me this now?””
“Because I was the one who helped him disappear before Thomas could finish the job.””
David closed his eyes.
His father.
The man whose funeral he had attended at sixteen.
The man whose grave he had visited every year.
The man Evelyn had just claimed was still alive.
“Where is he?”” David whispered.
Evelyn answered:
“He's the person who has been protecting Jayden from the shadows.””
David's phone slipped slightly in his hand.
Then, through the speaker, he heard a new voice.
An older man's voice.
A voice David hadn't heard since childhood.
“Hello, son.””
David couldn't speak.
The man continued.
“It's time you knew why your father never came home.””
And in the background, David heard a door opening.
May you like
Then three words that turned his blood cold.
“Thomas is here.””
