Chapter 9 - The Cabin Beneath the Pines
Police wanted to search the cabin.
Sarah insisted on going.
Rebecca argued against it.
Sarah won.
The cabin stood beneath tall pines beside a dark lake.
It looked smaller than Sarah remembered.
She could almost see herself at eight years old running down the dock while her father pretended not to watch.
Detective Hayes entered first with two officers.
No one was inside.
Dust covered the furniture.
Except for one area.
A desk.
Someone had been there recently.
Sarah walked toward the fireplace.
Her father had hidden birthday presents behind a loose stone when she was a child.
She knelt.
The stone still moved.
Behind it was nothing.
Her heart sank.
Then Emma's voice came from the doorway.
"Mom?"
Sarah turned.
Rebecca had reluctantly allowed the children to wait in the car with Daniel, but Emma had slipped away.
"Emma, you can't be in here."
Emma pointed toward the floor.
"That looks like Dad's room."
"What?"
"The guest house."
Sarah looked down.
The floorboards near the fireplace had the same geometric pattern as the guest-house office.
She pressed one.
Nothing.
Emma walked over.
"Dad pushes two."
She pressed another board simultaneously.
A click sounded.
Everyone froze.
A narrow compartment opened beneath the hearth.
Inside was a metal case.
Detective Hayes moved forward.
"Nobody touch it."
The case was photographed and removed.
Inside were dozens of handwritten pages.
A ledger.
Not Brenda's stolen copy.
The original.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Judges.
Bankers.
Developers.
Police officers.
Politicians.
Insurance executives.
At the top of several pages appeared the initials V.H.
Then Sarah found T.W.
Thomas Whitmore.
Her father.
Payments had gone to him too.
Her knees weakened.
"No."
Rebecca examined the entries.
"Sarah."
"My father was part of it."
"We don't know that."
"His name is right there."
Detective Hayes looked closely.
"These aren't payments to him."
Sarah looked up.
Hayes pointed to a notation.
"Look."
Beside Thomas's initials was the word RECOVERED.
Rebecca understood first.
"He was taking the money out."
Daniel nodded.
"Recovering stolen funds."
Sarah continued through the pages.
Then she reached the final section.
Recent dates.
Mark Bennett.
Richard Collins.
Brenda Collins.
And one more name.
Sarah Bennett.
Beside Sarah's name was a number.
$27,000,000.
Daniel whispered, "The offshore account."
Sarah turned the page.
A handwritten note appeared.
TRANSFER ON DEATH.
She stared at Victor Hale's initials beside it.
Then Detective Hayes's phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed.
"What?"
Everyone watched her.
"When?"
She ended the call.
"Sarah."
May you like
"What happened?"
"Mark Bennett just disappeared."
