Chapter 13 - Margaret Finally Told the Truth
Margaret called Richard before federal agents found her.
She sounded exhausted.
"I took the files."
"No kidding."
"I couldn't let Reed keep them."
"Why?"
"Because Reed isn't the problem."
Richard frowned.
"Then who?"
"Someone above her."
"Name."
"Franklin Ward."
"You said he's alive?"
"He is."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Richard gripped the phone.
"Stop telling me what you don't know."
Margaret remained silent.
Then:
"Meet me."
"No."
"You want Susan's files?"
"Give them to Reed."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because one document identifies the federal official who protected Horizon."
Richard stopped.
"Who?"
"I won't say on the phone."
Claire entered the room.
Richard put the call on speaker.
Margaret heard her.
"Claire?"
Claire's face hardened.
"Where were you when Lily was eating dry cereal?"
Margaret began crying.
Claire did not soften.
"You knew your son was taking my paycheck."
"Yes."
"You helped arrange our marriage."
"Yes."
"You forged my father's signature."
"Yes."
Claire's voice shook.
"You stole my mother's bracelet."
"Yes."
"You knew Derek was using my identity."
Margaret paused.
"Not at first."
"How much is that supposed to comfort me?"
"It isn't."
Claire wiped her face.
"Why should we believe anything you say?"
"You shouldn't."
Margaret's answer surprised them.
"You should verify everything."
Richard asked, "Where?"
Margaret gave coordinates for a closed roadside diner.
Reed would never approve.
So Richard told Reed.
She objected exactly as expected.
Then she used Margaret's location to arrange surveillance.
No heroic secret meeting.
No unnecessary gamble.
Richard had grandchildren.
He was too old to confuse recklessness with courage.
Margaret arrived alone.
Federal teams watched from distance.
She entered the abandoned diner carrying a waterproof file case.
Richard and Claire sat inside.
Margaret looked terrible.
Bruise along her jaw.
Bandage around one arm.
Claire stared.
"Who did that?"
"Owen."
Richard's voice hardened.
"Why?"
"He thought I had Susan's bracelet."
"You did."
"I mailed it before he found me."
Margaret sat.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then she opened the case.
Inside were files bearing Thomas Bennett's name.
Henry Bennett.
Susan.
Claire.
Richard.
Denise.
Even Lily.
Richard felt sick.
"Why is Denise here?"
Margaret said, "Every direct descendant was tracked."
"By whom?"
"Ward."
Claire asked, "Why the Bennetts?"
Margaret looked at Richard.
"Because your grandfather tried to shut Horizon down."
That contradicted everything.
Richard frowned.
"He founded it."
"Yes. As a charity."
Margaret explained.
Thomas Bennett discovered Franklin Ward's father using charitable trust accounts to hold money belonging to deceased clients.
At first it was tax evasion.
Then identity manipulation.
Thomas threatened exposure.
Ward threatened Thomas's family.
A compromise followed.
The Bennett family would receive payments.
In return, Thomas would remain silent.
Richard shook his head.
"My grandfather took the money."
"For five years."
"And then?"
"He started collecting evidence."
Richard looked at the files.
History repeating.
Susan.
Thomas.
People discovering Horizon.
Hiding records.
Trying to expose it.
Margaret continued.
"Thomas created copies of the identity system and tied certain master accounts to Bennett descendants."
Claire frowned.
"Why?"
"Insurance."
Richard understood the word from Monica's journal.
Thomas had made the Bennett family essential to Horizon's financial structure.
If Ward destroyed them, the system could become unstable.
If Horizon left them alone, the Bennett identities could remain dormant.
A hostage arrangement written into paperwork.
Claire whispered, "So my identity exists twice because my great-grandfather created the duplicate?"
Margaret shook her head.
"No."
Claire stared.
"Then who?"
"Franklin Ward."
"Why?"
"To regain control after Thomas died."
Richard's father Henry apparently inherited some knowledge but chose silence.
Susan later discovered the system accidentally.
Margaret had worked with Horizon because her husband owed money.
She claimed she initially believed the network merely hid wealthy families' assets.
Then she discovered identity theft.
By then Derek was involved.
"Why did you push Derek toward me?" Claire asked.
Margaret cried.
"Ward ordered it."
Richard's fists tightened.
"He ordered your son to marry my daughter?"
"Not marry. Stay close."
"But you pushed marriage."
"I thought marriage would make Ward consider Claire protected family."
Claire laughed in disbelief.
"You arranged my life based on organized criminals' rules."
"I know."
"No. You keep saying that."
Claire leaned across the table.
"You don't know what it was like to think I was failing because I couldn't earn enough."
Margaret looked down.
"You don't know what it was like to tell Lily we couldn't afford dance classes while Derek bought four-hundred-dollar shoes."
Margaret cried silently.
Claire continued.
"You don't know what it was like to apologize to the man stealing from me because I thought my questions made him feel inadequate."
Richard watched his daughter reclaim every piece of anger she had swallowed for years.
Margaret deserved to hear it.
When Claire finally stopped, Margaret whispered, "I'm sorry."
Claire sat back.
"That doesn't fix anything."
"No."
"But you can help fix some of it."
Margaret nodded.
Claire pointed to the files.
"Start."
Margaret handed them the most important document.
A ledger.
Names.
Duplicate identities.
Account numbers.
Companies.
Politicians.
Judges.
Bank executives.
Doctors.
Police officers.
Not all were participants.
Some were simply identity assets.
But several names were marked with a small red circle.
Richard recognized one.
Owen Marion.
Another.
Franklin Ward.
Another made Agent Reed, watching through surveillance, immediately order a secure federal response.
Deputy Director Charles Vance.
A senior official inside the agency overseeing part of the investigation.
That was Margaret's federal protector.
The reason she did not trust Reed's chain of command.
Reed was not corrupt.
Someone above her might be.
Richard looked at Margaret.
"Where is Ward?"
"I don't know."
"Who does?"
"Owen."
"And where is Owen?"
Margaret gave a grim smile.
"Looking for me."
A gunshot shattered the diner's front window.
Richard threw Claire to the floor.
Federal agents moved instantly.
Another shot hit the wall.
Margaret screamed.
Reed's teams converged on a wooded ridge across the highway.
The shooter escaped.
But left behind a rifle.
No fingerprints.
No DNA.
Professional.
Inside the diner, Claire checked Richard.
"I'm fine."
Margaret had been hit.
Not by a bullet.
By shattered glass.
Blood ran down her cheek.
She looked at Claire.
"Take the files."
Claire stared at her.
Margaret gripped her wrist.
"Ward needs Lily now."
Claire's face changed.
"Why?"
"Because Claire's duplicate identity isn't the master anymore."
Richard felt dread.
Margaret looked at him.
"When Lily turned six, control transferred."
"Control of what?"
May you like
Margaret whispered:
"Everything."
