Chapter 5 - The Man Grace Trusted Most)
Mark Reynolds was not Peter's uncle.
He was Grace's older cousin.
But Peter had called him Uncle Mark since he could speak.
Mark had been present after Daniel died.
He had helped Grace sell Daniel's accounting firm.
He had handled insurance paperwork.
He had driven Peter to school.
He had walked Grace down the aisle less than twenty-four hours earlier.
Now Peter was saying Mark had seen him inside Richard's office.
Grace stared at her son.
"When?"
"Yesterday afternoon."
"What did he say?"
"He asked what I was doing."
"And you?"
"I told him I lost something."
"Did he see the documents?"
Peter hesitated.
"I think so."
Bennett was already moving.
"Where is Mark now?"
Grace pulled out her phone.
No calls.
No messages since the wedding.
Bennett sent officers to Mark's house.
Empty.
His office.
Empty.
His phone was turned off.
Grace felt another piece of her world collapse.
Mark had introduced Richard to Grace.
That detail suddenly returned with brutal clarity.
The charity auction.
Grace had always remembered Richard spilling champagne on her dress.
But Mark had been the reason she attended.
He had bought her ticket.
He had encouraged her to stay when she wanted to leave early.
He had disappeared ten minutes before Richard approached her.
Grace whispered, "He set us up."
Bennett looked at her.
"What?"
"Mark introduced us."
Grace told her everything.
Within an hour, financial investigators had found the first direct connection.
Mark Reynolds had managed several of Daniel's business accounts.
After Daniel's death, Mark helped close them.
One transfer stood out.
Two hundred eighty thousand dollars moved from a dormant business account into a consulting firm.
That consulting firm had later paid Michael Dean.
The retired officer who had buried the witness report.
Peter sat quietly as the adults spoke.
Then he asked the question Grace was afraid to hear.
"Did Uncle Mark hurt Dad?"
Nobody answered.
Grace crouched in front of him.
"We don't know yet."
Peter looked toward Daniel's watch.
"He helped carry Dad's coffin."
Grace's eyes filled.
"I know."
That afternoon, police received a call from a gas station clerk sixty miles north.
A man matching Mark's description had purchased fuel and bottled water.
Security footage showed Mark getting into a gray SUV.
A second person sat in the passenger seat.
The face was partially obscured.
But the body shape resembled Richard.
They were together.
The search expanded.
Meanwhile Bennett showed Grace photographs of the women connected to Richard.
Marianne Cole.
Rebecca Hart.
Susan Bell.
Andrea Morris.
Natalie Price.
Claire Dunham.
Grace studied each face.
Different ages.
Different cities.
Different lives.
But there was another pattern.
All had lost someone close before meeting Richard.
A husband.
A father.
A brother.
Someone who had once managed or protected their finances.
Richard rarely chose isolated women.
He made them isolated first.
Grace's stomach twisted.
Daniel had not simply been an obstacle.
Daniel had been the beginning.
That evening Peter and Grace were moved to a secure hotel under police protection.
Peter barely spoke.
Grace sat beside his bed until he fell asleep.
At 11:43 p.m., her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
Then it rang again.
Grace answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Then a woman whispered, "Is this Grace Parker?"
"Who's this?"
"You don't know me."
"How did you get this number?"
"Daniel gave it to me."
Grace stood.
"Who are you?"
A long pause.
"Rebecca."
Grace stopped breathing.
Rebecca Hart.
Evelyn's missing daughter.
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Your mother thinks you're dead."
Rebecca began crying.
"I know."
"Why haven't you contacted her?"
"Because every person I contacted became a target."
Grace gripped the phone.
"Richard is running."
"I saw the news."
"Then help us find him."
Rebecca's breathing quickened.
"You don't understand. Richard is dangerous, but Mark is worse."
Grace closed her eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Richard finds the women."
Rebecca's voice became almost inaudible.
"Mark chooses them."
Grace looked toward Peter's sleeping form.
"How long has this been happening?"
"At least fifteen years."
"Did Mark kill Daniel?"
Silence.
Then Rebecca said, "Daniel found the ledger."
"What ledger?"
"The real one."
"What does it contain?"
"Everything."
"Where is it?"
"Daniel hid it."
"We found his boxes."
"Not there."
"Then where?"
Rebecca took a breath.
"Daniel told me he hid it somewhere Richard would never search because Richard hated reminders of the people who came before him."
Grace tried to understand.
Then her eyes drifted toward Peter.
Toward the watch on the bedside table.
Daniel's watch.
Richard had taken it.
Richard had claimed he was repairing it.
Peter had entered the office looking for it.
Grace slowly reached for the watch.
The back plate looked slightly thicker than she remembered.
"Rebecca..."
May you like
Grace's voice shook.
"I think I know where Daniel hid it."
