Chapter 14 - The Company Daniel No Longer OwnedFinancial investigators confirmed it by morning.
The shell companies receiving Daniel's stolen money had been purchasing debt connected to Miller Construction.
Loans.
Supplier obligations.
Private notes.
Even minority ownership stakes.
Wade Bennett had been using Daniel's own stolen money to gain control over Daniel's company.
“It doesn't make sense,” Sarah said.
Ortiz looked over the documents.
“It does if the company itself is valuable to him.”
“For what?”
“Bennett River.”
The development sat over property where Robert had hidden evidence.
But three million dollars was an absurdly expensive way to search an old basement.
There had to be more.
Daniel knew.
Wherever Wade held him, he'd discovered something during the kidnapping.
At 6:15 a.m., Sarah returned to the hospital.
Emma was awake.
She immediately asked about her father.
“Police are finding him.”
“You said he'd come back.”
“He will.”
Sarah needed to believe it.
Emma studied her face.
“Grandma knows where he is.”
Sarah frowned.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because she said Mr. Bennett always goes to the same place when he's scared.”
“When did she say that?”
“At the cabin.”
Sarah called Linda.
Linda denied remembering.
Sarah's anger erupted.
“Stop deciding what I deserve to know.”
“I don't know where Wade is.”
“Emma says you do.”
Silence.
Then Linda whispered, “Maybe.”
“Where?”
“When Wade was younger, his father owned a horse farm near Leipers Fork.”
“Does Wade own it now?”
“No. A trust does.”
“What trust?”
“I don't know.”
Of course.
Police found it within forty minutes.
Cedar Hollow Farm.
One hundred thirty acres.
Privately held through a corporation tied to Melissa Grant's brother.
Ortiz mobilized officers.
Sarah wanted to go.
This time, Ortiz refused completely.
“Your presence adds another hostage.”
Sarah knew she was right.
She hated her for being right.
At Cedar Hollow, police found Wade's SUV hidden inside a barn.
Melissa's car was there too.
The farmhouse was empty.
Fresh tire tracks led across a rear field toward an abandoned equipment building.
Officers entered.
No Wade.
No Melissa.
No Daniel.
But they found a chair with blood on one armrest.
Zip ties.
A burner phone.
And Daniel's wedding ring.
Sarah received the photograph while standing beside Emma's hospital bed.
She turned away so Emma wouldn't see.
A note had been taped beneath the ring.
THE WIFE BRINGS THE DRIVE.
Sarah stared.
“What drive?”
Linda knew.
Emma's video.
The red flash drive Linda had switched at the cabin.
“Do police have it?”
“No,” Linda admitted over the phone.
“You had it in Wade's SUV.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“I took it when I ran.”
“Where?”
Linda hesitated.
“I hid it.”
Sarah almost screamed.
“WHERE?”
“At your house.”
The place police had searched repeatedly.
“In what?”
“Your red phone case.”
Sarah looked at the phone in her hand.
Her heart stopped.
“What?”
“The case has a pocket behind the lining.”
Sarah pulled off the protective cover.
Nothing.
Then she peeled back a thin interior flap she had never noticed.
A tiny red USB drive dropped into her palm.
Linda had hidden it there during the chaos in the yard.
“When?”
“Before I left with Wade.”
“You were standing near me for maybe thirty seconds.”
“I slipped it into the case when your phone fell onto the grass.”
Sarah stared at the drive.
All this time.
Evidence had been inches from her hand.
“Why?”
“Because Wade would search me.”
“So you made me carry it.”
“Yes.”
“Without telling me.”
“Yes.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Another act Linda would probably call protection.
Police copied the drive.
It contained Emma's video.
The footage was shaky.
Mostly floor.
Furniture.
Fragments of faces.
But the audio was clear.
Linda laughing.
Wade kissing her.
Emma giggling.
Then panic.
Later, while Emma apparently hid behind furniture, Wade and Linda argued.
And one sentence changed the case.
Linda: “Melissa says Daniel signed the final transfer.”
Wade: “Then by Friday Miller Construction belongs to us.”
Linda: “And what happens to Daniel?”
Wade laughed.
“He'll discover he's been working for Melissa for the last six months.”
Sarah replayed it.
Melissa wasn't merely helping Wade.
She was buying Daniel's company with him.
Then another voice appeared faintly on the recording.
A phone call through speaker.
Melissa.
“If Daniel keeps digging, use the old records. Make him think his father was the fraud.”
Wade answered:
“And if that doesn't work?”
Melissa said:
“Then you know what worked on his father.”
Silence filled the room.
Sarah looked at Ortiz.
“That proves they killed Robert.”
“It's strong evidence of conspiracy.”
Then the video captured Linda saying something barely audible.
Sarah asked the technician to increase the volume.
Linda's voice became clearer.
“You promised me nobody else would get hurt.”
Wade responded:
“You've been saying that for twenty years.”
The recording ended.
Ortiz looked toward Sarah.
“Wade wants this because it can put all three of them away.”
“All three?”
“Linda too.”
Sarah stared at the red drive.
Then her phone rang.
Daniel's number.
Melissa answered.
“Bring the original drive to Cedar Hollow.”
“Police already copied it.”
“I assumed they would.”
“Then why do you want it?”
“Because Emma recorded something else.”
Sarah frowned.
“What?”
“Something she hasn't remembered yet.”
“What?”
Melissa paused.
“Ask her what Linda said after Wade left the bedroom Tuesday.”
The line ended.
Sarah slowly turned toward Emma.
“Sweetheart.”
Emma looked up.
“When Mr. Bennett left Grandma's room Tuesday, did Grandma say anything?”
Emma thought.
Then her face changed.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“She talked on the phone.”
“To who?”
“I don't know.”
“What did she say?”
May you like
Emma whispered:
“It's happening tonight. Make sure Wade doesn't leave alive.”
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