Chapter 5 - THE DEAD MAN'S MONEY
Thomas Vance had not died in 2017.
At least not financially.
Official records showed a heart attack in Geneva.
There had been a funeral.
A closed casket.
David had delivered the eulogy.
I had held his hand through the entire service.
Now federal investigators believed Thomas had staged his death.
The Halcyon Trust had been created six months later.
Money began moving almost immediately.
“Where is he?” I asked.
Hale shook his head.
“We don't know.”
“David knows.”
“Probably.”
The investigation expanded overnight.
What began as corporate fraud became an international conspiracy.
Federal agencies contacted authorities in Switzerland, Luxembourg, and the Cayman Islands.
Vance Global's board suspended David.
Trading in the company's private debt instruments was halted.
Banks froze additional accounts.
Then employees started talking.
Once powerful men fall, silence becomes surprisingly expensive.
David's chief financial officer accepted immunity.
The controller surrendered encrypted files.
An executive assistant provided calendars documenting secret meetings.
And Julianne handed over something none of us expected.
A second phone.
David had given it to her six months earlier.
“He told me it was for emergencies,” she said.
Hale asked what kind.
Julianne looked ashamed.
“For when he left Maya.”
The phone contained hundreds of messages.
Some romantic.
Some financial.
Some terrifying.
One message had been sent three weeks before Lily became sick.
David wrote:
Dad says Halcyon is ready.
Once the final transfer clears, I disappear.
Julianne replied:
What about Maya?
David answered:
She'll take the fall.
Another message followed.
And Lily?
David's response contained only six words.
Maya will take care of her.
I read those words repeatedly.
Even his plan to abandon our daughter had been delegated to me.
Then investigators found a later message.
Sent from the yacht.
Julianne:
Your wife keeps calling.
David:
Ignore it.
Julianne:
She says Lily is in ICU.
David:
Maya dramatizes everything.
Julianne:
Maybe call her?
David:
No.
Then, eleven minutes later:
If I go home every time Maya creates a crisis, I'll never get out.
Julianne had responded with a heart emoji.
I stopped reading.
“Did she know Lily died?”
Hale shook his head.
“Apparently not.”
“Does that matter?”
“Legally?”
“No.”
“Then that's for you to decide.”
I already had.
Julianne had helped destroy my marriage.
But David had destroyed his relationship with his daughter entirely by himself.
I refused to give him the excuse of blaming his mistress.
The next morning, David requested another meeting.
I declined.
Then another.
I declined again.
On the third request, his attorney included a message.
Thomas is alive.
I know where he is.
I agreed to meet.
David entered the visitation room looking exhausted.
“Where is your father?”
He didn't answer immediately.
“Promise me something.”
“No.”
“Maya.”
“You don't negotiate with me anymore.”
His lips tightened.
“I can help the government.”
“Then help them.”
“I want to attend Lily's funeral.”
I stared at him.
“She was buried three weeks ago.”
“A memorial.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“You're enjoying this.”
The accusation almost made me laugh.
“Enjoying what?”
“Watching me suffer.”
I leaned toward the glass.
“You still don't understand.”
“Understand what?”
“There is no amount of suffering you can experience that gives Lily another morning.”
David looked away.
“So no.”
I stood.
“Tell the government where Thomas is.”
“Maya.”
“Or don't.”
I turned.
“He's in Monaco.”
I stopped.
David swallowed.
“My father is in Monaco.”
I slowly faced him again.
“He has another name.”
“What name?”
“Adrian Vale.”
That was the first crack.
The second came six hours later.
Interpol confirmed that a man matching Thomas Vance's description had been living in Monte Carlo under that identity.
But when authorities reached his apartment, he was gone.
On the kitchen counter, they found a single envelope.
May you like
Written across the front were two words.
FOR MAYA.
