Chapter 3: The Secret My Father Took to His Grave
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
Outside the windows, traffic continued flowing through the city.
People crossed streets.
Cars stopped at red lights.
Somewhere below, a delivery driver was probably complaining about the rain.
The world hadn't changed.
But mine had.
I called Richard back.
No answer.
Again.
Voicemail.
I looked at Emily.
"Did you hear that?""
She nodded slowly.
"Mr. Carter, I think you should leave the building.""
"Why?""
"Because if what he said is true, the people responsible might already know you're investigating.""
I glanced at the USB drive.
"Take this.""
Emily shook her head.
"No. You should keep it.""
"Emily, I need someone I can trust inside this building.""
Her eyes widened.
"Sir, I'm just an analyst.""
"Exactly. You're not part of the executive circle. That's what makes you useful.""
She looked down at her notebook.
"My father used to say the same thing," she murmured.
I studied her.
"What happened to him?""
"He worked in accounting. He reported financial irregularities at his last company.""
"And?""
"He lost his job. Nobody hired him again.""
She gave a small, embarrassed smile.
"That's why I don't usually speak up.""
I nodded.
"Then let's make sure you don't lose another job for telling the truth.""
I called my driver and asked him to meet me at the private entrance.
Before leaving, I opened my father's box.
Under the old reports was a photograph.
It showed my father standing outside a restaurant with three people.
Richard Hale.
Vanessa Reed.
And a man I didn't recognize.
On the back, my father had written a date.
Three weeks before his death.
Underneath it were four words.
The three who betrayed me.
I turned the photograph over again.
Why would my father include Richard?
He had been his closest financial adviser for almost two decades.
And why was Vanessa standing beside them, smiling like they were celebrating something?
My phone vibrated.
An email from an unfamiliar address.
Subject: YOUR FATHER'S LAST RECORDING.
I opened it.
There was one attachment.
An audio file.
I pressed play.
At first, there was only static.
Then my father's voice.
"Richard, listen carefully. If anything happens to me, the original documents are in the old office. Not the safe. The wall behind the bookcase.""
A second voice answered.
Richard.
"You're overreacting. Nobody is going to hurt you.""
My father's reply was quiet.
"That's what you said about the money.""
The recording ended.
I played it again.
Then a third time.
My father hadn't been paranoid.
He had been afraid.
And he had been trying to tell someone.
I immediately called the number attached to the email.
It rang once.
Twice.
A woman answered.
"Mr. Carter?""
"Who is this?""
"My name is Laura Bennett. I was your father's personal assistant.""
I recognized the name.
Laura had worked for him for eleven years before suddenly resigning two months before his death.
"Where have you been?""
"Trying to stay alive.""
I went silent.
"What?""
"I shouldn't have contacted you through the company system. I know that now.""
"Laura, what happened to my father?""
She exhaled.
"I was there the night he made that recording.""
"Why didn't you tell the police?""
"Because the police received a report that your father had died naturally before anyone even examined the evidence.""
"That's impossible.""
"I thought so too.""
I stepped into the elevator.
"Where are you?""
"At a hotel outside the city. I can't stay long.""
"Give me the address.""
She hesitated.
"Not over the phone. Someone has been watching my apartment.""
I looked at the elevator camera.
"Laura, I need you to listen to me. I'm going to find out what happened.""
"Your father said you'd say that.""
"What else did he say?""
Her voice cracked.
"He said if you ever came back to Carter Global, you would be in danger.""
The elevator reached the ground floor.
The doors opened.
My driver was waiting outside.
I walked toward him.
Then Laura said something that made me stop.
"There's one more thing, Marcus.""
"What?""
"Your father didn't leave you the company because he wanted you to run it.""
I frowned.
"Then why?""
"Because he knew Vanessa and Richard were planning to take it from you.""
I looked back toward the building.
Thirty-two floors of glass and steel rose above me.
Every light seemed ordinary.
Every window looked harmless.
But somewhere inside that building, people were working to protect a secret that had cost my father his life.
"Laura," I said, "what was the secret?""
She lowered her voice.
"Your father discovered that Carter Global wasn't just being robbed. The company was being used to finance something much bigger.""
"What?""
Before she could answer, I heard a loud crash on her end of the line.
A door.
Then hurried footsteps.
"Laura?""
Her breathing became rapid.
"Marcus, they're here.""
"Who?""
"Don't come looking for me. Whatever you do, don't—"
The call disconnected.
I immediately called her again.
This time, her phone was switched off.
My driver opened the car door.
"Sir?""
I didn't move.
Then my phone vibrated.
A text message from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph.
Laura Bennett was sitting in a chair inside a dark room.
Her hands were tied.
A man stood behind her, his face outside the frame.
Underneath the photograph was a message.
Your father should have kept his mouth shut.
A second message arrived.
You have forty-eight hours to resign as CEO.
I stared at the screen.
Then another notification appeared.
An email from Carter Global's legal department.
The subject line read:
*EMERGENCY BOARD RESOLUTION — REMOVAL OF MARCUS CARTER.*
I opened the attachment.
The resolution had already been signed by four board members.
And at the bottom, beside the name of the person who had submitted it, was a signature I recognized.
Vanessa Reed.
But it was the final page that made my blood run cold.
The resolution stated that if I refused to resign, the board would release evidence proving I had personally authorized the twenty-three-million-dollar transfers.
Someone was preparing to make me look like the criminal.
And they had already forged my signature.
I slowly locked my phone.
"Sir?"" my driver asked again.
"Where are we going?""
I looked up at the towering building.
"Back inside.""
"Back to the office?""
"No.""
I opened the car door.
"To the boardroom.""
Because if Vanessa thought she could steal my father's company, murder his reputation, and then frighten his son into surrendering...
May you like
She had made one mistake.
She had given me a reason to stop playing nice.
