Chapter 6 - The Message on Vanessa’s Phone
Lucas stared at Vanessa.
She froze.
For one second, nobody moved.
Then Vanessa slowly lowered her phone.
“Lucas.”
His voice came out almost too calm.
“Show me the message.”
She shook her head.
“Give me the phone.”
“No.”
Michael Reeves laughed bitterly from the hospital bed.
“There it is.”
Lucas looked at him.
“What?”
“The part where everyone finally stops pretending.”
Vanessa backed toward the door.
Lucas moved between her and the hallway.
“Show me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Please.”
“Don't say please.”
His voice hardened.
“My daughter is missing.”
Vanessa flinched.
“Your phone says someone thinks I still believe you.”
He held out his hand.
“So give it to me.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Vanessa.”
She looked at her father.
He nodded once.
“Do it.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You don't get to tell me what to do anymore.”
Richard's face changed.
Michael watched closely.
Lucas did too.
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa pressed her lips together.
Then she handed Lucas the phone.
He opened the message.
GOOD. HE STILL BELIEVES YOU.
No name.
No saved number.
Lucas scrolled upward.
There were dozens of messages.
Some from months earlier.
His stomach tightened.
HAS HE PROPOSED YET?
YES.
MAKE SURE THE GIRL TRUSTS YOU.
SHE DOESN'T.
THEN TRY HARDER.
Lucas looked up.
Vanessa was crying now.
He kept scrolling.
WE NEED ACCESS TO THE HOUSE BEFORE THE WEDDING.
I HAVE A KEY.
CHECK RACHEL'S OFFICE.
Lucas stopped.
“You went through my house.”
Vanessa whispered.
“Yes.”
“You searched Rachel's things.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me every day.”
“Yes.”
Lucas almost couldn't process the simplicity of her answers.
No excuses.
No denial.
Just yes.
He scrolled again.
The messages changed six months earlier.
Vanessa had begun responding differently.
I'M DONE.
YOU'RE DONE WHEN WE SAY YOU'RE DONE.
Another.
LEAVE SOPHIE OUT OF THIS.
Then:
THE GIRL IS THE ONLY LEVER HE HAS.
Lucas read it twice.
Vanessa looked at him.
“I tried to stop them.”
He didn't respond.
“I knew what I had done.”
“You knew what you were doing from the beginning.”
“Yes.”
“And now you want credit because eventually you felt guilty?”
“No.”
“Then what do you want?”
Vanessa wiped her face.
“I want Sophie alive.”
Lucas stared at her.
Michael shifted in the bed.
“Ask her who the sender is.”
Lucas looked down at the number.
“You know?”
Vanessa didn't answer.
“Who is it?”
She looked toward Richard.
Her father had gone pale.
Lucas noticed.
“You know too.”
Richard said nothing.
Vanessa finally whispered:
“It isn't one person.”
Lucas frowned.
“What?”
“The messages came through an encrypted relay.”
“Who controlled it?”
“A group.”
Michael closed his eyes.
Richard looked sick.
Lucas felt anger rising again.
“What group?”
Vanessa looked directly at him.
“The board.”
Lucas stared.
“What board?”
“Bennett Development.”
Silence.
Lucas almost laughed.
“My board?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Not all of them.”
“Who?”
“I only know three names.”
Lucas stepped closer.
“Say them.”
Vanessa looked toward the door.
“Arthur Wynn.”
Lucas knew him.
Chief financial officer.
Twenty-three years with the company.
Friend of his father's.
She continued.
“Peter Sloan.”
General counsel.
Lucas felt colder.
Peter had drafted Sophie's trust.
“And Daniel Bennett.”
Lucas stopped.
Michael opened his eyes.
Richard looked away.
Lucas whispered:
“My brother.”
Vanessa nodded.
“No.”
“I saw him.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
“Where?”
“At my father's office.”
Lucas turned toward Richard.
“You knew?”
Richard rubbed both hands over his face.
“I knew Daniel was involved.”
“And you said nothing?”
“I was trying to survive.”
Lucas laughed once.
It sounded ugly.
“My wife died.”
“My daughter is missing.”
“And everyone around me keeps saying they were trying to survive.”
Richard looked at him.
“You have no idea what Daniel is capable of.”
Lucas grabbed the edge of the bed.
“My brother?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel used to borrow money from me in college.”
“He couldn't keep a job until my father hired him.”
“He's not some criminal mastermind.”
Richard's expression remained grim.
“That is exactly why people like him are dangerous.”
Lucas stared at him.
Michael spoke quietly.
“Daniel wasn't the mastermind.”
Lucas looked over.
“Then who was?”
Michael's eyes moved toward Lucas.
“Your father.”
Lucas froze.
“My father died ten years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
Michael leaned back.
“Your father built the financial system.”
“He created the shell companies.”
“He made deals with Cole Development.”
“He hid debt.”
“He laundered money through land purchases.”
“And when he died, someone inherited the machine.”
Lucas's throat tightened.
“Daniel.”
Michael nodded.
“Rachel discovered it.”
Lucas looked at Richard.
Richard didn't deny it.
“You were partners with my father?”
Richard whispered:
“Yes.”
Lucas turned away.
Every memory felt contaminated.
His father teaching him to drive.
His father bringing him into the company.
His father telling him family was everything.
All of it.
Then Lucas remembered something.
“My father hated Daniel.”
Michael gave him a tired smile.
“Publicly.”
Lucas turned back.
“He constantly said Daniel was irresponsible.”
“People protect secrets by insulting the person carrying them.”
Lucas shook his head.
“This doesn't make sense.”
“It does when you understand inheritance.”
Michael pointed toward Lucas's phone.
“Who inherited voting control after your father died?”
Lucas answered automatically.
“Me.”
“Exactly.”
“And Daniel?”
“Minority shares.”
Michael nodded.
“Your father trusted Daniel to keep his mouth shut.”
“But he trusted you to keep the company alive.”
Lucas felt sick.
“So Daniel needed me.”
“Yes.”
“Until?”
Michael looked at him.
“Until Rachel figured out the money trail.”
Lucas stared toward the window.
“Then why kill Rachel?”
Vanessa suddenly answered.
“Because she wasn't going to expose Daniel.”
Lucas turned.
“What?”
“She was going to give everything to federal investigators.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“She had already contacted someone.”
Lucas looked at Michael.
“You?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Michael hesitated.
Then said:
“An FBI financial crimes agent.”
Lucas's heart jumped.
“Name.”
“Rebecca Shaw.”
Lucas had never heard it.
“Where is she?”
Michael looked toward Detective Hale.
“Dead.”
Lucas slowly turned.
Hale stared at the floor.
“What happened to her?”
Hale answered quietly.
“Car accident.”
Lucas felt a chill.
“Same year as Rachel?”
“Yes.”
“How many months apart?”
“Six weeks.”
Lucas stared at everyone in the room.
Two women.
Both investigating the same money.
Both dead in car accidents.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Lucas answered immediately.
“Where is Sophie?”
A distorted voice replied.
“Bring Reeves.”
Lucas's eyes went to Michael.
“Let me hear her.”
“Bring the card.”
“Let me hear my daughter.”
A pause.
Then Sophie's voice came through.
“Daddy?”
Lucas closed his eyes.
“Sweetheart.”
“I'm okay.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Is Grandma with you?”
“Yes.”
A muffled sound.
Then Margaret's voice.
“Lucas, do not give them anything.”
The call crackled.
A man spoke in the background.
“Enough.”
Lucas tightened his grip.
“Sophie, listen to me.”
“Daddy?”
“I am coming.”
The line went dead.
Then a text arrived.
An address.
An abandoned freight depot south of the city.
Below it:
ONE HOUR.
Michael shook his head.
“It's a trap.”
Lucas looked at him.
“I know.”
“Then don't go.”
“My daughter is there.”
“If you bring me, they kill me.”
Lucas stepped closer to the bed.
“Then tell me why they want you.”
Michael looked at the ceiling.
“Because I know where Rachel's second copy is.”
“The safe-deposit box?”
Michael nodded.
“Where?”
“Not a bank.”
Lucas frowned.
“Then where?”
Michael smiled faintly.
“Rachel didn't trust banks anymore.”
“Where is it?”
Michael looked directly at him.
“Inside your father's grave.”
Everyone went silent.
Lucas stared.
“You're lying.”
“Rachel had a compartment placed beneath the headstone.”
“How?”
“She bribed the cemetery maintenance supervisor.”
Lucas's head spun.
“What is inside?”
Michael took a breath.
“Everything.”
“Names.”
“Accounts.”
“Video.”
“Audio.”
“And something else.”
“What?”
Michael's expression changed.
“Proof that Daniel was at Rachel's crash before the police arrived.”
Lucas felt his anger sharpen into something colder.
“You saw it?”
“I saw the original.”
“What did Daniel do?”
Michael stared at him.
“He opened Rachel's car door.”
Lucas could barely speak.
“Was she alive?”
Michael nodded.
Lucas felt like he had been struck.
“And he left her there.”
The room disappeared.
Lucas saw only Rachel.
Trapped.
Waiting.
His brother standing beside the car.
Then walking away.
Lucas's phone vibrated again.
A new photograph.
Sophie.
Margaret.
And behind them stood Daniel.
Alive.
Smiling.
May you like
The message underneath read:
YOU HAVE FIFTY-NINE MINUTES.
