Chapter 10 - The Delete Button)
Rachel reached the office first.
The laptop screen was awake.
A progress bar moved across it.
Deleting files.
"No."
She grabbed the computer.
Michael entered behind her.
"Don't touch anything else."
"It's deleting."
He saw the screen.
"Disconnect the internet."
Rachel pulled the network cable from the docking station.
Michael switched off the wireless router at the wall.
The progress bar stopped.
Thirty two percent.
Ethan appeared in the doorway.
"You just damaged my business equipment."
Rachel stared at him.
"You remotely deleted files."
"I was securing confidential client information."
Michael laughed.
"At this exact moment?"
Ethan ignored him.
Hannah entered with two guests.
One was Daniel Cho, a forensic accountant Rachel had met twice before.
Daniel had been invited because his wife worked with Hannah.
He looked at the laptop.
"Don't close anything."
Ethan stepped forward.
"This is my office."
Daniel looked at him.
"Then you should want everything preserved exactly as it is."
"I want everyone out."
Rachel shook her head.
"No."
"This is my house."
"My house too."
Ethan stared at her.
Rachel realized she had never said those words to him with confidence before.
My house too.
My account too.
My name too.
My life too.
Control had trained her to ask permission for things she already owned.
Daniel photographed the laptop screen.
Then he pointed to the deletion window.
"Cloud synchronization."
Michael nodded.
"Can deleted files be recovered?"
"Often."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
Vanessa appeared in the hallway.
"Ethan, we need to talk."
"No."
"Now."
He ignored her.
Vanessa grabbed his arm.
"You said everything important was offline."
Rachel watched.
Daniel watched too.
Ethan pulled away.
"Go downstairs."
Vanessa's voice rose.
"You told me none of this could come back on me."
Ethan's composure finally cracked.
"You created half the posts."
"Because you told me what to write."
"Nobody forced you."
Vanessa stared.
Rachel saw the exact moment she realized Ethan's backup plan included her too.
Not only Rachel.
Vanessa.
Ethan had probably promised his sister they would blame Rachel together.
But if that failed, he was prepared to sacrifice Vanessa.
"You bastard," Vanessa whispered.
Ethan's face became cold.
"Careful."
Rachel almost recognized the warning.
It was the same word he had used with her.
Vanessa recognized it too.
Her expression changed.
Daniel spoke quietly to Rachel.
"You need copies of financial records before anything else disappears."
"I don't have passwords."
Vanessa looked at them.
"I do."
Ethan turned sharply.
"Don't."
Vanessa laughed.
"Why? Going to tell everyone I'm unstable too?"
"Vanessa."
"You said Rachel was the fall person."
The room went silent.
Rachel felt Hannah grab her hand.
Vanessa continued.
"You said if anyone investigated, everything led to her account."
Ethan's face went white with anger.
"Shut your mouth."
"You put the envelopes in her bag."
"You helped."
"Because you said nobody would find out."
Rachel stared at Vanessa.
There was no apology in her confession.
Only self preservation.
But truth did not need noble motives to be useful.
Daniel said, "Vanessa, don't access anything. Just tell us where records exist."
Vanessa pointed toward the black storage box.
"Paper copies there."
Ethan moved.
Michael blocked him.
"Don't."
Daniel opened the box without removing anything.
He photographed the contents in place.
Rachel saw the blue folder.
Then a second folder she had not noticed before.
BANKING.
Daniel looked at Rachel.
"Is this your handwriting?"
"No."
Inside were account summaries.
The fundraiser had raised eighty three thousand four hundred twenty dollars.
Rachel stared.
She had believed sixty four thousand.
Ethan and Vanessa had hidden nearly twenty thousand more.
Daniel continued.
Transfers showed money moving into several accounts.
Business payroll.
Credit card debt.
Lakefront Capital.
And one account Rachel did not recognize.
Seventeen thousand dollars had been transferred there three days earlier.
The account holder was not Ethan.
Not Vanessa.
Rachel leaned closer.
"Who is Mercer Holdings?"
Vanessa looked confused.
Ethan said nothing.
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"It's an LLC."
Rachel looked at Ethan.
"What is it?"
He smiled faintly.
"Business."
Vanessa stepped toward the papers.
"What account?"
Daniel repeated the name.
Vanessa's face changed.
She looked at Ethan.
"You said that company was closed."
Rachel turned toward her.
"You know it?"
Vanessa did not answer.
Ethan moved toward the hallway.
Rachel stepped into his path.
"What is Mercer Holdings?"
For once, Ethan seemed unable to produce an immediate lie.
Vanessa answered for him.
"It's where he hides money."
Ethan closed his eyes.
Vanessa continued.
"He opened it after Lakefront started threatening collection."
Rachel stared at her husband.
The fundraiser was no longer simply being used to rescue a failing business.
Ethan had siphoned donation money into a hidden company.
Money Rachel could potentially prove he still possessed.
Money that could be returned.
For the first time since the nightmare began, Rachel saw not only a path toward exposing him.
She saw a path toward repairing some of the damage.
Then Daniel turned another page.
His expression changed.
"What?"
Rachel asked.
Daniel pointed to a scheduled transaction.
Seventeen thousand dollars was not the final transfer.
A second transfer had been arranged.
For midnight.
Amount.
Forty six thousand dollars.
Source.
Fundraiser reserve account.
Destination.
Mercer Holdings.
May you like
If it processed, nearly every remaining dollar would disappear.
Midnight was less than nine hours away.
