Chapter 10 - Somebody Inside the Investigation
Agent Reed ordered everyone out of Richard's house.
Immediately.
No debate.
Within an hour, Claire and Lily were relocated to a state-owned secure residence.
Richard refused to leave them until Reed explained how a supposedly isolated forensic laptop had been accessed remotely.
"It shouldn't have been possible," Reed admitted.
"That's not an explanation."
"No."
"Then give me one."
Reed looked toward the technicians.
"The machine was connected briefly when updates were installed this morning."
"And?"
"Malware may have been embedded."
Richard understood Margaret's warning.
Do not bring the bracelet to police until you know which police.
Someone had known exactly when the card was opened.
Maybe through malware.
Maybe because someone inside the building told them.
Claire sat on a couch with Lily asleep against her.
"What files survived?"
Reed answered.
"Most were cached before deletion."
"Most?"
"Not all."
"Which one disappeared completely?"
Reed hesitated.
"The password-protected file."
Of course.
The file Susan considered important enough to encrypt was the one someone made sure vanished.
Richard asked, "Can you recover it?"
"Maybe."
Claire laughed bitterly.
She had begun hating that word.
Maybe Derek was working alone.
Maybe Margaret was a victim.
Maybe Monica was dead.
Maybe Monica was alive.
Maybe the police were compromised.
Every answer came wrapped in maybe.
Denise entered the room carrying food.
Real food.
Lily woke at the smell of chicken soup.
Richard watched his granddaughter eat two bowls.
That simple sight hurt more than he expected.
Six-year-old Lily should have been worrying about cartoons and missing teeth.
Instead, strangers were guarding the door because her father had helped revive a financial conspiracy older than her mother.
Claire noticed Richard watching.
"What?"
"Nothing."
She knew better.
"Dad."
He looked down.
"I should've noticed sooner."
Claire shook her head.
"No."
"He was unemployed for eighteen months."
"He said he was looking for work."
"I believed him."
"So did I."
Richard looked at Lily.
"You shouldn't have had to call me for bread."
Claire's face crumpled.
She moved beside him.
"I kept thinking next paycheck would fix it."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because every time you offered money, Derek said it humiliated him."
Richard almost smiled at the absurdity.
"The man stealing from you felt humiliated by help?"
Claire wiped her eyes.
"He'd get angry. Then he'd apologize. Then he'd say he was depressed. Then he'd say his mother needed something. Eventually it was easier to stop asking questions."
Richard nodded slowly.
That was how control worked.
Not one dramatic cage.
A thousand tiny penalties for noticing the bars.
Agent Reed returned with news.
Investigators located Derek.
Alive.
Claire stood.
"Where?"
"Hospital outside Rockford."
"What happened?"
"Broken ribs. Concussion. Dehydration."
"Who did it?"
"He hasn't said."
Richard asked, "Is he under arrest?"
"Guarded."
Claire looked conflicted.
She hated him.
She wanted him safe enough to answer.
Reed arranged a video interview.
Derek appeared on screen bruised and exhausted.
When he saw Claire, he cried.
She did not.
"Lily okay?" he asked.
Claire's voice went cold.
"You lost the right to ask before she lost the right to eat."
He looked down.
Richard remained behind Claire.
Derek saw him.
"Richard."
"Don't."
Derek swallowed.
Agent Reed began.
"Who assaulted you?"
"I don't know."
Richard almost laughed.
Reed said, "Try again."
"They wore masks."
"How many?"
"Two."
"Where?"
"Warehouse."
"What warehouse?"
"I don't know."
"Why were you there?"
Derek looked at Claire.
"I was supposed to meet my mother."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Who called you?"
"A woman pretending to be Monica."
Claire leaned forward.
"The same woman who called Margaret?"
"Probably."
"Why did you run?"
Derek whispered, "Because Marion told me the accounts were exposed."
Claire stared.
"So you called Owen Marion."
"He called me."
"You've been stealing with him."
Derek shut his eyes.
"Yes."
There it was.
No excuse.
No ambiguity.
Claire's face did not change.
"How long?"
"Seven months."
"Why?"
"I owed money."
"To whom?"
"Horizon."
Richard frowned.
"The program?"
Derek nodded.
"It never completely disappeared. It became a network."
"Of what?" Reed asked.
"Identity assets."
Claire looked disgusted.
"People."
Derek nodded.
"People's identities. Old ones, dead ones, duplicated ones, records created decades ago. They use them to open accounts, hold property, move money."
"Why my identity?"
"Because yours is clean."
"You ruined it."
"I know."
"No, Derek. You don't get to say that like you're sorry."
He started crying again.
Claire remained unmoved.
"You knew somebody created duplicate records when I was a baby."
"Yes."
"Before we married?"
"Yes."
Richard gripped the chair.
Claire asked, "Did you marry me because of Horizon?"
Derek could not look at her.
That was answer enough.
Claire whispered, "Say it."
Derek's shoulders shook.
"My mother introduced us intentionally."
Claire stared.
Richard felt rage climb his spine.
Derek continued.
"She said if I stayed close to you, Horizon wouldn't use your identity for anything dangerous."
Claire laughed.
"You believed that?"
"I was twenty-seven and stupid."
"You were paid."
Silence.
Claire understood.
"How much?"
Derek whispered, "Five thousand initially."
Richard stepped forward.
Claire held up a hand.
"Then?"
"Monthly payments."
"You were paid to date me?"
"At first."
"To marry me?"
Derek cried.
"I fell in love with you."
Claire stared.
Perhaps that was the cruelest sentence he could have chosen.
"You stole Lily's money."
"I know."
"You cheated."
"I know."
"You used my patients."
"I know."
"You married me under a contract."
"I stopped taking payments after Lily was born."
"How noble."
Derek looked devastated.
Claire felt nothing she recognized.
Reed asked, "Who paid you?"
"Marion."
"Owen?"
"His father at first."
"Where is Franklin Ward?"
Derek looked confused.
"I thought he was dead."
Reed's expression changed.
Richard caught it.
"What?"
Franklin Ward was supposed to have died eleven years ago.
Again.
Dead people.
Cremations.
Closed records.
Reed asked, "What is the password to Susan Bennett's encrypted file?"
Derek shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Who does?"
"My mother."
"Where is Margaret?"
Derek looked at Claire.
"She sent the bracelet, didn't she?"
No one answered.
He understood anyway.
Derek whispered, "Then she's running."
"From whom?"
"Owen."
Reed said, "We can protect her."
Derek laughed painfully.
"No, you can't."
"Why?"
"Because Owen doesn't run Horizon."
"Who does?"
Derek looked toward the hospital room door as if afraid somebody could hear through it.
"Franklin."
Richard frowned.
"Franklin Ward is dead."
May you like
Derek stared at him.
"That's what everybody is supposed to believe."
