Chapter 5 - YOU BETRAYED MY FAMILYEmergency lights activated.
Marcus drew his weapon but kept it pointed toward the floor.
“Stay behind the desk.”
He moved toward the hallway.
I locked the study door behind him.
Emma trembled against me.
“Was that the angry man?”
“I don’t know.”
The mansion’s main power returned after thirty seconds.
Marcus’s voice came through my phone.
“East corridor clear. The blackout originated in the security room.”
“Who had access?”
“My deputy, two technicians, and me.”
“Where are they?”
“One technician is missing.”
The study phone rang.
Victor again.
I answered on speaker.
“Is Emma safe?”
“You have ten seconds to explain.”
“Your father discovered the pension fund had been used to hide company losses.”
“You managed that fund.”
“Not then. Malcolm did.”
“You served as his adviser.”
“Yes.”
The admission struck hard.
Victor continued.
“I helped create the accounts.”
“You betrayed my family.”
“I betrayed the workers first.”
His voice sounded tired.
Not defensive.
“Your father discovered what we had done. He forced Malcolm to restore part of the money, then hid the original ledger.”
“Why hide it instead of reporting it?”
“To protect the Whitmore name.”
Of course.
My father had valued the company above nearly everything.
Perhaps above truth.
“The ledger proves how much was taken,” Victor said. “It also identifies every shell company.”
“And now Malcolm has it.”
“He has the original.”
“Do copies exist?”
“One.”
“Where?”
“The man in the photograph has it.”
“The stranger you met?”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
“A federal financial investigator.”
Marcus returned to the study.
He heard the final sentence.
Victor continued.
“I have been cooperating for six months.”
“Without telling me.”
“I didn’t know whether you would protect the workers or the name.”
The accusation hurt because I could not answer immediately.
“You entered my home and frightened my daughter.”
“I came for the ledger before Malcolm’s people could take it. Your security system had already been compromised.”
Marcus said, “Ask him who gave him the code.”
Victor heard.
“Your father.”
“He’s dead,” Marcus said.
“He gave it to me nine years ago.”
The missing technician was found moments later.
Unconscious but alive inside the security archive.
Someone had attacked him and used his access card.
Then Marcus received the identification result for the other man in the mysterious photograph.
Victor had told the truth.
May you like
The stranger was Special Agent Thomas Reed of the federal financial-crimes division.
But the photograph had been taken by someone inside our own security team.
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