Chapter 9 - Marcus Was Nine Years Old
“That’s impossible.”
Nora stared at the screen.
Marcus had been thirteen? Let's calculate: Nora 31, Marcus 35, 22 years ago Marcus 13. Need consistency. He was thirteen. Let's fix.
Marcus had been thirteen years old when Daniel disappeared.
Priya verified the timestamp.
“The original identity was assigned to a legacy employee profile.”
“What does that mean?”
“The user name was later transferred.”
“To Marcus?”
“Yes.”
“So Marcus didn’t necessarily make the entry.”
“Correct.”
Nora exhaled.
“Who had the profile before him?”
Priya searched historical logs.
The original account owner appeared.
RICHARD BENNETT.
Elaine’s late husband.
Marcus’s father.
Harold sat back.
“That makes more sense.”
Nora looked at him.
“You expected Richard?”
“I expected someone from that generation.”
“Why?”
Harold hesitated.
“Richard managed operational security after Daniel disappeared.”
Nora felt the pieces shifting.
“So my aunt’s husband replaced my father.”
“Yes.”
“Immediately?”
“Within two weeks.”
Nora turned toward Priya.
“Find everything about Richard and Arden House.”
The records were incomplete.
But enough remained.
Richard approved payments.
Richard authorized destruction of archived invoices.
Richard corresponded with a private physician who later signed the medical declaration Elaine used against Eleanor eleven years ago.
And Richard had received $3.2 million through offshore entities over fifteen years.
“What did Elaine know?” Nora asked.
“We can’t tell yet.”
Harold looked grim.
Nora called Marcus.
He answered on the fifth ring.
“What?”
“I need to talk to you about your father.”
Silence.
“What about him?”
“Did he ever mention Daniel Cross?”
Another silence.
Then Marcus said, “No.”
Too quickly.
“Marcus.”
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because his account marked Daniel dead the same day he disappeared.”
Marcus swore quietly.
“Where are you?”
“Why?”
“Because we shouldn’t talk on the phone.”
Nora looked at Harold.
Harold shook his head.
Nora ignored him.
They met in the underground garage of Marcus’s office building.
Marcus arrived without Elaine.
He looked terrible.
“What did you find?”
Nora showed him the record.
Marcus leaned against his car.
“My father told me Daniel was dangerous.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. I was a kid.”
“Dangerous how?”
“He said Daniel stole company information and threatened Grandma.”
“That’s the opposite of everything I’ve found.”
Marcus rubbed his face.
“You think I know what happened twenty-two years ago?”
“I think you’ve been acting like someone who knows more than he says.”
Marcus looked at her.
“File 17.”
Nora waited.
“My mother asked me to find it two months ago.”
Nora’s pulse jumped.
“Elaine sent someone to the archive?”
“No.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“What did she ask?”
“She wanted me to find out where Grandma stored historical files.”
“Why?”
“She said Grandma had documents that could destroy Dad’s reputation.”
“Your father is dead.”
“I know.”
“Why protect him now?”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“Because his company shares are worth forty million dollars if no fraud claim attaches to them.”
There it was.
Money.
Always money.
“Did you help her?”
“I asked one of our IT people to look at old document indexes.”
“Name.”
“Kevin Shaw.”
“Did Kevin access the archive?”
“No. He just found references.”
“To File 17?”
Marcus looked away.
“Marcus.”
“Yes.”
Nora stepped back.
“You told Elaine where it was.”
“Yes.”
“And hours after Grandma’s trust activated, somebody stole it.”
“I didn’t know she would do that.”
“You don’t know she did.”
Marcus gave her a look.
“You saw Mom’s car.”
“Was she driving?”
“I don’t know.”
“That answer is becoming popular.”
Marcus opened his car door.
Nora stopped him.
“What was in File 17?”
“He said it included something called Project Harbor.”
Nora frowned.
“What is Project Harbor?”
“No idea.”
“Who said?”
“Kevin.”
“Where is Kevin?”
Marcus looked toward the garage entrance.
“He hasn’t answered me since yesterday.”
Nora felt cold.
“Give me his address.”
They drove there with security.
Kevin Shaw lived in a modern condominium near the river.
His door was unlocked.
The apartment was empty.
No blood.
No struggle.
Laptop gone.
Phone gone.
Clothes missing.
But on the kitchen counter was a photograph.
Eleanor Bennett.
Rachel Bennett.
Daniel Cross.
Richard Bennett.
Elaine Bennett.
All five stood outside a building.
A sign behind them read:
ARDEN HOUSE FOUNDATION DINNER.
Nora turned the photograph over.
A handwritten note had been added recently.
Ask Elaine who the sixth person was.
Nora looked at the photo again.
Five people.
But at the far right edge, only partly visible, was the shoulder of another person.
Harold took the picture.
His face changed.
“You recognize him?”
“No.”
“You do.”
Harold stared at the fragment of a silver lapel pin.
Then whispered a name Nora had never heard.
“Victor Hale.”
Marcus turned pale.
Nora noticed.
“Who is Victor Hale?”
Marcus backed away.
May you like
Harold answered.
“The man your grandmother spent twenty years trying to prove existed.”
