Chapter 2 - The Morning Everything Vanished
At 5:42 the next morning, Richard woke to his phone vibrating.
The first message was from the bank.
The second was from the family attorney.
The third was from Rebecca.
Dad, don't panic.
Richard sat upright.
His hands started shaking.
He opened the banking application.
The balance was nearly zero.
For several seconds, he simply stared at the screen.
Then he called Rebecca.
She did not answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Richard got dressed without waking Emily.
He searched Rebecca’s room.
Empty.
Her closet was half cleared.
A suitcase was missing.
So was the blue folder Richard kept locked in his office.
He ran downstairs.
The office door was open.
The safe stood open too.
Richard felt his knees weaken.
He opened the drawer where he kept the property documents.
Missing.
Investment records.
Missing.
Tax records.
Missing.
Then he found something on the desk.
A single envelope.
His name was written on it.
Richard opened it.
Inside was a photocopy of a transfer authorization.
The signature looked like his.
But Richard had never signed it.
At the bottom was another name.
Daniel Carter.
Richard stared at it.
“No…”
He called the bank.
The banker confirmed the transfers.
The account had been emptied through a series of transactions authorized using documents bearing Richard’s signature and Daniel’s identification information.
Richard asked where the money had gone.
The banker refused to provide details without legal verification.
Richard called the attorney.
That was when he learned something even worse.
Someone had apparently used Daniel’s identity to establish a financial account months earlier.
Richard sat down.
“Why would someone do that?”
The attorney was silent.
“Richard, I need you to listen carefully.”
“What?”
“You need to tell Daniel not to contact the bank directly.”
“Why?”
“Because his name is already attached to the investigation.”
Richard closed his eyes.
The previous evening replayed in his mind.
Don’t come crawling back.
I won’t.
Richard grabbed his keys.
He did not care about pride anymore.
He drove to Daniel’s house.
When Daniel opened the door, Richard realized his son was looking at him differently.
Not like a father.
May you like
Like a stranger.
And Richard knew he deserved it.
