Chapter 3 - the man Barbara feared
They left the house three minutes later.
Barbara did not try to stop them again.
That frightened Emily more than if she had.
Mark drove.
Emily sat beside Chloe in the back seat.
"Where are we going?" Mark asked.
"Somewhere safe."
"Where?"
"You'll find out."
"Emily."
"If you don't like not knowing things, imagine how I feel."
He stopped asking.
1847 Hawthorne Street was twenty-five minutes away, tucked between an old pharmacy and a closed tailor shop.
The brass sign beside the door read:
REEVES DIGITAL FORENSICS
Emily's eyes narrowed.
Mark whispered, "You've got to be kidding."
"You know him?"
"No."
"But your mother does."
Inside, a man in his late forties was waiting.
Daniel Reeves had tired eyes, a grey jacket, and the posture of someone who had expected trouble for a very long time.
When he saw Chloe, his expression softened.
"You got her out."
Emily stopped.
"You know my daughter?"
"I know who she is."
"How?"
Daniel looked at Mark.
"Your father."
Mark stared at him.
"My father died eighteen months ago."
"Yes."
"You knew him?"
"I worked for him."
"Doing what?"
Daniel nodded toward the memory card.
"Finding what your mother was hiding."
Silence.
Emily placed the card on his desk.
Daniel did not touch it immediately.
"Where did you get this?"
"Chloe."
His expression darkened.
"Barbara had it?"
"Apparently."
Daniel finally picked it up.
"Then we may have a problem."
"What problem?"
"This isn't the original."
Emily leaned forward.
"How can you tell?"
"Your father used encrypted microSD cards with a blue mark on the corner."
Daniel turned the card beneath his desk lamp.
"This one has the mark scratched away."
Mark stared at it.
"Why?"
"To make it look ordinary."
"Can you read it?"
"Maybe."
Daniel inserted it into an isolated device.
"No internet connection?"
Emily asked.
"Absolutely not."
The screen remained black for several seconds.
Then folders appeared.
SECURITY.
BANK.
TRUST.
B.
Daniel exhaled.
"It's his."
Mark gripped the back of a chair.
"My father's?"
"Yes."
Daniel opened the folder labeled B.
Video files filled the screen.
Dates stretched back nearly two years.
"Barbara," Emily whispered.
Daniel clicked the oldest recording.
The footage showed the Carter dining room.
Mark's father, William, sat at the table.
Barbara stood across from him.
Their voices were faint but clear.
William said, "You changed the beneficiary instructions."
Barbara replied, "I corrected them."
"You forged my initials."
"I protected this family."
William slammed his hand against the table.
"That money belongs to Chloe."
Barbara's face hardened.
"Chloe is five years old."
"Exactly."
"And Emily is her mother."
William leaned back.
"What does Emily have to do with it?"
"Everything."
Barbara lowered her voice.
"If something happens to Mark, Emily controls that child. If Emily controls the child, she controls the money."
William stared at her.
"Listen to yourself."
"I'm protecting what our family built."
"No. You're trying to own it."
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Daniel opened another.
Barbara entered Mark's office late at night.
She connected a drive to his computer.
A third clip showed her photographing banking documents.
A fourth showed her speaking with an unidentified man.
Then Daniel stopped.
"What?" Emily asked.
He pointed at the timestamp.
"This is four days before William died."
Mark's breathing changed.
The clip began.
William stood at the front door.
Barbara was behind him.
They were arguing.
"I changed the trustees," William said.
Barbara's face twisted.
"You can't."
"I already did."
"To whom?"
"Someone you can't pressure."
Barbara grabbed his arm.
"William."
He pulled away.
"Stay away from Chloe's money."
The recording cut off.
Mark whispered, "Dad never changed the trust."
Daniel looked at him.
"Yes, he did."
"What?"
"He signed new documents."
"Then why am I still trustee?"
"Because those documents disappeared before they were filed."
Emily stared at Barbara's image frozen on screen.
"What happened to them?"
Daniel opened another folder.
"This is what your father hired me to find out."
Before he could click, someone knocked on the office door.
Three slow knocks.
Daniel went still.
"We're closed."
No answer.
Another three knocks.
Daniel reached beneath his desk.
"Take Chloe to the back room."
Emily stood.
"Why?"
"Because nobody knows this office address except William, me, and Barbara."
The lights went out.
Chloe screamed.
In the darkness, glass shattered near the front entrance.
Daniel shouted.
"Back room. Now."
Emily grabbed Chloe.
Mark followed.
Behind them came the sound of someone entering.
May you like
Then a man's voice.
"Where's the card?"
