Chapter 2 - Their Mother’s Last Warning
Maya read the letter twice before she understood its meaning.
Their mother, Evelyn Hart, had written it four months before her death.
My dear daughters,
If Diane Mercer ever asks either of you for money, do not pay her.
Do not confront her alone.
Do not tell Charles Bennett that you know.
And above all, do not trust anyone who claims the fifty thousand dollars belonged to the Bennett family.
The money was mine.
I gave it to Diane twenty-seven years ago because she promised to keep you safe.
She did not keep that promise.
I have spent years trying to correct my mistake.
If I fail, find the blue ledger.
The truth begins on page forty-seven.
The letter ended there.
No explanation.
No description of the ledger.
No clue about what danger Evelyn had paid Diane to prevent.
Maya lowered the paper.
“What does this mean?”
“I don’t know,” Lena said. “I found it yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you’re pregnant and because Mom left dozens of strange notes near the end. Some were written while she was on medication.”
“This isn’t confusion.”
“I know that now.”
Maya looked at the bank statements.
One transaction had been highlighted.
Fifty thousand dollars withdrawn in cash on October 14, twenty-seven years earlier.
Maya had been two years old.
Lena had been five.
The withdrawal slip bore Evelyn Hart’s signature.
Beside it was a photocopy of an old check from Diane Mercer to a company called Northstar Child Services.
The amount was also fifty thousand dollars.
Maya felt cold.
“What was Northstar Child Services?”
“I searched for it. The company dissolved twenty-six years ago. There’s almost nothing online.”
“Almost?”
Lena removed another page.
“A newspaper archive mentioned Northstar during an investigation into illegal adoptions. Records disappeared before charges were filed.”
Maya stared at her sister.
“Illegal adoptions?”
“I’m not saying it involves us.”
“Our mother paid Diane fifty thousand dollars. Diane sent fifty thousand to an adoption company. Now she’s demanding the same amount from me.”
“I know.”
Maya looked toward the staircase again.
“Does Adrian know?”
“I don’t know.”
The possibility hurt more than Maya expected.
Adrian had been her husband for four years. He had held her through her mother’s funeral. He knew how deeply Evelyn’s death had affected her.
If he had hidden information about Evelyn, their marriage was built on a secret.
Maya took a photograph of every document.
Then she placed the originals back inside the envelope.
“We need the blue ledger.”
“Mom’s storage unit is almost empty.”
“Almost?”
“There’s one locked trunk. I couldn’t find the key.”
Maya stood.
A sharp pressure pulled across her abdomen.
Lena immediately reached for her.
“Sit down.”
“I’m fine.”
“You are not going anywhere tonight.”
Maya hated that Lena was right.
They agreed to visit the storage unit the next morning.
Before Lena left, she turned at the door.
“Do not confront Adrian until we know more.”
“He’s my husband.”
“And he’s a Bennett.”
Maya flinched.
Lena’s face softened.
“I’m not saying he’s involved. I’m saying Diane sent you a photograph because she wanted you emotional. Don’t give her that advantage.”
After Lena left, Maya climbed the stairs.
The bedroom door was partly open.
Adrian stood beside the window, speaking quietly on the phone.
“She knows about the fifty thousand,” he said.
Maya stopped in the hallway.
Adrian turned slightly, unaware that she was behind him.
“No, I haven’t told her about Northstar.”
Maya’s hand tightened around the doorframe.
A male voice answered through the phone, too faint to understand.
Adrian lowered his voice.
“I said I’ll handle Diane. Keep Maya out of it.”
Maya stepped into the room.
“Too late.”
Adrian spun around.
His face changed when he saw her.
“Maya.”
“Who are you talking to?”
He ended the call.
“That was Daniel Cross, our family attorney.”
“You know about Northstar.”
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Two days.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t know what it meant.”
“You knew enough to tell an attorney to keep me out of it.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
He moved closer.
She stepped back.
The distance between them seemed to shock him.
“Maya, Diane has been moving money through shell companies for years. The internal audit uncovered a payment to Northstar’s old holding corporation.”
“And the woman at the hotel?”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“What woman?”
Maya showed him the photograph.
His anger was immediate.
“That was not an affair.”
“Then who was she?”
“An investigator.”
“Her name?”
Adrian hesitated.
That hesitation cut deeper than any answer.
“Her name is Olivia Kane,” he said finally. “She specializes in tracing hidden assets.”
“Why meet her at a hotel?”
“Because someone has been monitoring our offices.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Maya laughed without humor.
“So you hired a secret investigator, discovered a connection between Diane and an illegal adoption company, met a woman at a hotel, and decided your pregnant wife didn’t need to know.”
“When you say it like that, it sounds unforgivable.”
“How else should I say it?”
Adrian looked at her belly.
Fear entered his face.
“Diane isn’t just stealing money. People connected to the audit have been threatened. One accountant disappeared last week.”
Maya’s anger weakened.
“Disappeared?”
“His car was found near the river.”
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
“We did. Quietly.”
Maya thought of her mother’s warning.
Do not trust anyone who claims the fifty thousand dollars belonged to the Bennett family.
“What did Diane buy from Northstar?” Maya asked.
“We don’t know.”
“My mother knew.”
Adrian stared at the letter when Maya showed it to him.
He read the final line twice.
“Find the blue ledger,” he murmured.
The next morning, Maya and Lena drove to the storage facility while Adrian followed in a separate car.
The manager unlocked the building.
They walked down a narrow concrete corridor toward Unit 118.
The metal door was already raised.
Inside, boxes had been torn open.
Furniture had been overturned.
Evelyn’s locked trunk was gone.
May you like
On the back wall, someone had written a message in blue paint.
STOP LOOKING FOR PAGE FORTY-SEVEN.
