Chapter 7: The Woman Who Wasn't Supposed to Be Alive
The police found my mother at 2:17 p.m.
She was sitting in the back of a black sedan outside a private medical clinic in Evanston.
Robert Keller was nowhere to be found.
When Daniel called with the news, I was still standing inside the bank vault, holding my father's letter.
"Is she hurt?"" I asked.
"Not physically, sir. She's frightened, but she's safe.""
"Put her on the phone.""
A few seconds later, I heard her voice.
"Marcus?""
"Mom, are you okay?""
"I'm fine.""
"Who was that man?""
She was silent.
"Mom, I need you to tell me everything.""
I heard her take a shaky breath.
"Your father made me promise never to tell you about Eleanor.""
"Why?""
"Because he believed telling you would put you in danger.""
I looked at Rebecca.
She had already opened her laptop.
"Mom, who was Eleanor Hayes?""
My mother began crying.
"She was Devon's mother.""
"I know that. Rebecca found the death certificate.""
"No, Marcus. You don't understand.""
My mother's voice dropped.
"Eleanor never died.""
I stopped breathing for a moment.
"What?""
"Your father helped her disappear.""
I looked at the photograph in my hand.
Robert Reed and Devon Hayes.
2009.
The year my father had supposedly ended his business relationship with Devon's family.
"Why would Dad help her disappear?""
"Because Robert Keller was threatening her. He had discovered something about the money your father had invested, and he wanted Eleanor to help him take control of it.""
I rubbed my forehead.
"Why would she cooperate?""
"She didn't. That's why she disappeared.""
Rebecca leaned toward me.
"Ask her where Eleanor is now.""
I repeated the question.
My mother hesitated.
Then she said something I hadn't expected.
"She's been living under another name for eleven years.""
"Where?""
"I don't know.""
"Mom!""
"Your father arranged everything through a lawyer in Wisconsin. I never met her again.""
I closed my eyes.
"Then how did Robert find you?""
"Because someone told him you had opened the safe-deposit box.""
I looked at Rebecca.
She slowly lowered her laptop.
Someone had known we were at the bank.
Someone had been watching us.
And there was only one way they could have known so quickly.
The bank.
Or someone inside our company.
An hour later, I sat across from my mother in a private room at the police station.
She looked older than I remembered.
Her hands shook as she held a paper cup of water.
I sat beside her.
"Tell me about Dad.""
She stared at the table.
"Your father wasn't always a businessman, Marcus. He was a teacher. He believed in people. That's why he trusted the wrong ones.""
"Devon's father?""
She nodded.
"Richard Hayes owned a small investment firm. He and your father became friends through a local business association. When Richard died, Devon inherited his father's interest in several private investments.""
"What happened?""
"Your father discovered that Richard had been using investor money to cover personal debts. Devon knew about it. He wanted your father to sign documents transferring the remaining assets.""
"And Dad refused.""
"Yes.""
I looked down.
"How did Eleanor become involved?""
My mother took a breath.
"She found evidence that her husband had been stealing money. She wanted to report him, but Robert Keller convinced her that she would be blamed too.""
"Robert was the attorney?""
"He represented the investment firm. He told her the best way to protect herself was to sign a statement saying your father had authorized everything.""
I stared at her.
"That sounds familiar.""
My mother nodded.
"It was the same trick Devon later used with Tiana.""
I thought about the forged ownership agreement.
The two hundred thousand dollars.
The confession in my office.
"Did Dad know?""
"He discovered the arrangement before Eleanor signed. He helped her leave the country and transferred the legitimate investment money into a protected account.""
"Then why did he die?""
My mother looked at me.
Her eyes were full of something I had never seen before.
Guilt.
"Your father had been receiving threats. He told me it was nothing. One night, he drove to meet Robert Keller.""
She paused.
"He never came home.""
I felt my chest tighten.
"The accident?""
My mother nodded slowly.
"That's what the police told us.""
"Do you believe it?""
She didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
At 5:40 p.m., Rebecca received a call from our forensic investigation team.
They had recovered the contents of the abandoned storage drive from our office.
Most of the files were encrypted.
But one folder was accessible.
It contained scanned financial records from the original Meridian project.
I opened the folder on Rebecca's laptop.
The first document showed an investment transfer of $1.5 million.
The second showed a second transfer.
$750,000.
The third was a list of account holders.
My father's name appeared first.
Devon's father appeared second.
And the third name belonged to someone I had never expected to see.
*Robert Keller.*
I looked at Rebecca.
"He wasn't just the attorney.""
"No," she replied.
"He was a beneficiary.""
I scrolled down.
There was a note beside his name.
Beneficial ownership: 25%.
My father had been trying to protect money that belonged to several investors.
And Robert Keller had been helping himself to it.
"How much money are we talking about?"" I asked.
Rebecca studied the spreadsheet.
"Based on the original investment and subsequent returns, the account could be worth considerably more than ten million dollars.""
I leaned back.
"Where is it?""
"The account number is incomplete. We need the original banking documents.""
My mother suddenly spoke.
"Your father kept another copy.""
I turned toward her.
"Where?""
She looked at me.
"In the house.""
"Which house?""
She swallowed.
"The house where you grew up.""
I frowned.
"We searched it.""
"Not the attic.""
She reached into her handbag and pulled out a small brass key.
"Your father gave me this shortly before he died. He told me never to use it unless Robert came looking for the inheritance.""
I took the key.
A number was engraved on its side.
*317.*
Rebecca looked at it.
"That's probably a locker key.""
My mother nodded.
"Your father rented a private storage unit. He said everything we needed would be inside.""
I closed my hand around the key.
"Why didn't you tell me before?""
She lowered her head.
"Because I was afraid the truth would destroy the life you built.""
I looked at her.
"Mom, someone is threatening you because of a secret Dad kept for eleven years. The life I've built is already involved.""
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
It showed an older woman sitting outside a small grocery store.
Gray hair.
A dark coat.
A face that looked remarkably like Devon's.
Beneath it was a message.
*YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FATHER? FIND ELEANOR HAYES.*
I enlarged the photograph.
Then I noticed the date printed in the corner.
It had been taken that morning.
My mother leaned over my shoulder.
Her face went white.
"That's Eleanor.""
I looked at her.
"How do you know?""
May you like
She whispered:
"Because I saw her at your father's funeral.""
