Chapter 3 - The Red FolderThe emergency department smelled like antiseptic and coffee.
Zoey hated both.
She sat beneath two blankets while Renee held her hand.
Doctors had examined the scrapes and bruises. None appeared life-threatening.
Physically, Zoey was fortunate.
Emotionally, every closing door made her flinch.
Julian stayed near the hallway.
He did not want to crowd her.
Renee looked at him.
“You knew Derek was on the property?”
“Not until the gate alert.”
“Why was his code still active?”
“I don’t know.”
Renee closed her eyes.
That question would wait.
Detective Mara Ellison entered the room.
She was careful not to overwhelm Zoey.
“I want you to know you don’t have to tell me everything today.”
Zoey looked at her mother.
Renee nodded.
Mara asked:
“What is the red folder?”
Zoey whispered:
“Papers.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t know.”
Renee did.
Three weeks earlier, she had commissioned a forensic review of a custodial investment account created for Zoey by Renee’s late father.
The account had originally held approximately $2.4 million.
Its purpose was simple.
Education.
Medical care.
Future housing.
Long-term security.
During Renee and Derek’s marriage, Derek had served as one of the authorized managers under limited circumstances.
After their divorce, his access should have ended.
The preliminary audit suggested it had not.
Approximately $640,000 had moved through a series of questionable distributions over three years.
The report was kept in a red folder.
It disappeared from Julian’s locked home office two days earlier.
Renee had assumed it was misplaced.
Now Zoey had seen Derek holding it.
Mara turned toward Renee.
“Who knew about the audit?”
“Me. Julian. Our attorney. The accountant conducting it.”
“Derek?”
“No.”
Julian spoke from the doorway.
“He may have suspected.”
Renee looked at him.
“Why?”
Julian hesitated.
“Because I confronted him.”
The room went quiet.
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
Renee stood.
“You what?”
“I found one of the shell companies listed in the bank records.”
“You told me you were waiting.”
“I should have waited.”
“What did you say to him?”
“That if he had an explanation, now was the time.”
Renee stared at her husband.
“Why would you do that without telling me?”
“I thought he might give something away.”
“You are not an investigator.”
“I know.”
Mara interrupted gently.
“We can discuss that separately.”
Renee sat again.
Her anger remained.
Julian deserved some of it.
He had acted alone.
Even for protective reasons, secrecy was still secrecy.
Zoey whispered:
“Dad was really mad.”
Renee immediately looked at her.
“When?”
“After Julian talked to him.”
“You heard about that?”
“Dad called me.”
Renee’s stomach dropped.
“Derek called you?”
Zoey nodded.
“He said Julian was trying to steal my money.”
Julian closed his eyes.
The manipulation had begun earlier than anyone knew.
“What else did he say?”
“That Julian wanted Mom to think Dad was bad.”
Renee’s jaw tightened.
“Did he ask you anything about the red folder?”
“At first no.”
Zoey rubbed her thumb against the blanket.
“Then he asked if Julian kept papers at home.”
Renee felt sick.
Derek had used his own daughter as an information source.
Mara asked:
“What happened the morning he picked you up?”
Zoey hesitated.
“He said Mom had an emergency.”
Renee’s eyes filled.
“I didn’t.”
“I know now.”
Zoey continued.
“Dad drove around for a while.”
“What did he talk about?”
“You.”
Renee swallowed.
“What about me?”
“He said you were making mistakes because Julian tells you what to do.”
Julian looked down.
Then Zoey said:
“He asked if I wanted you two to break up.”
Renee’s hand tightened.
“What did you say?”
“No.”
“And?”
“He said I’d understand when I was older.”
Mara waited.
“What happened at the mansion?”
“He took me to the study.”
“Why?”
“He wanted me to show him where Julian keeps stuff.”
Julian spoke quietly.
“My office.”
Zoey nodded.
“I said I didn’t know.”
“Was that true?”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“He got mad.”
Zoey’s breathing changed.
Renee moved closer.
“We can stop.”
But Zoey shook her head.
“He already had the red folder.”
Renee stared.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“He showed it to you?”
“He opened it.”
“What did he say?”
Zoey’s next sentence changed the investigation.
“He said Julian had made it look like Dad stole money.”
Julian looked at Mara.
Mara remained still.
Zoey continued.
“Then he showed me a paper with Julian’s name.”
“What paper?”
“I don’t know.”
“Anything you remember?”
Zoey concentrated.
“It had transfers.”
Renee frowned.
The audit did not contain transfers under Julian’s name.
Not one.
“What exactly did Derek say?”
“He said when police looked, they would know Julian did it.”
Renee’s face drained of color.
Derek was not only trying to escape the audit.
He was preparing to frame Julian.
Then Mara’s phone buzzed.
She read the message.
Her expression changed.
“What?” Renee asked.
Mara looked at Julian.
“Officers found something near the lake.”
Julian waited.
“A silver cufflink.”
Renee looked confused.
Julian did not.
He reached toward his left wrist.
His shirt had buttons.
But he knew the cufflink.
A custom pair Renee had given him at their wedding.
One disappeared three months earlier.
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And now police had found it beside the place where Zoey was nearly killed.
Derek had been preparing a story long before that morning.
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