Chapter 6 - The Green CabinThe blood belonged to Emma.
There wasn't much of it.
A cut along her scalp from the clippers explained most of what investigators found on the chair.
That should have made Sarah feel better.
It didn't.
The green cabin sat twenty-seven miles south of the Miller home on seven wooded acres registered to a shell company ultimately controlled by Wade Bennett.
Police found rope fibers.
Empty water bottles.
A child's blanket.
A bottle of prescription sleeping medication issued to Wade's wife.
And mud.
Lots of it.
Red-brown Tennessee clay tracked across the back room.
Emma identified photographs of the cabin.
“That one.”
Her voice changed when Ortiz showed her the laundry room.
“That's where Grandma cut my hair.”
Sarah had to walk away.
Daniel followed.
They stood near a hospital window overlooking the parking lot.
“How could she do this?”
He sounded like a little boy.
Sarah wanted to comfort him.
She couldn't.
“Your mother locked our daughter in a room while we searched for her.”
“I know.”
“She listened to me cry.”
“I know.”
“She shaved Emma because her boyfriend thought police might recognize her.”
Daniel pressed both hands against the window frame.
“I know.”
Sarah looked at him.
“Did you?”
He turned.
“What?”
“How much did you know about Wade?”
“I told you.”
“No. You told me about the loan after Ortiz found the connection.”
Daniel's face tightened.
Sarah continued.
“Emma saw your name on transfer documents. Two million dollars was in those bags. Wade loaned your company two point four million.”
“I don't know what those papers were.”
“But something is wrong.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
He looked away.
That was enough.
Sarah's anger sharpened.
“Tell me.”
“My company didn't borrow the money the way I told you.”
“What does that mean?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Wade invested through several subcontractors.”
“Why?”
“I thought it was tax structuring.”
“You thought?”
“I didn't ask enough questions.”
Sarah laughed bitterly.
“Because you needed the money.”
“Yes.”
“Could those contractors be fake?”
Daniel didn't answer.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
Sarah stared at him.
He continued.
“Three weeks ago, our controller found duplicate invoices. Same labor. Same materials. Different companies.”
“How much?”
“Almost three million.”
“And what did you do?”
“I confronted Wade.”
Sarah felt everything inside her go cold.
“When?”
“Last Friday.”
Four days before Emma disappeared.
“What did he say?”
“That accounting mistakes happen.”
“And?”
“He told me not to become dramatic over paperwork.”
“Did you call police?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if I was wrong, accusing our largest investor of financial fraud would destroy the company.”
“And if you were right?”
Daniel said nothing.
Sarah stepped away.
“You protected your company.”
“I was trying to protect forty-three employees.”
“Our daughter was kidnapped because of whatever you were afraid to look at.”
“I didn't know about my mother.”
“But you knew there was something.”
He looked devastated.
“I know.”
Sarah wasn't finished.
“Did Linda know you confronted Wade?”
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
Daniel did.
His face changed.
“She came to my office Saturday.”
“Why?”
“She said I looked stressed.”
“And you told her?”
“Some of it.”
Sarah stared.
“You told Linda you suspected Wade?”
“I told my mother I had concerns about an investor.”
“Did you say his name?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
There it was.
A chain.
Daniel confronted Wade.
Daniel told Linda.
Linda warned her lover.
By Tuesday, millions of dollars were packed in duffel bags.
And Emma walked into the room.
Sarah turned away before she said something she couldn't take back.
Ortiz entered.
“We found something else at the cabin.”
“What?”
“A burn barrel.”
Sarah's pulse jumped.
“What's in it?”
“Paper. Clothing. A phone.”
“Can you recover anything?”
“Forensics will try.”
Ortiz looked at Daniel.
“And one partial document.”
She handed him a photograph.
Most of the page was charred.
One line remained readable.
AUTHORIZED BY: DANIEL MILLER.
Daniel stared.
“I didn't sign that.”
Ortiz watched him.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Because if money was being moved using your authorization—”
“I didn't sign it.”
Sarah looked closely at the signature.
It did resemble Daniel's.
Then she remembered Linda.
His mother had access to their house.
His files.
His mail.
His habits.
“How well can Linda copy your signature?”
Daniel looked at Sarah.
His answer was barely audible.
“Perfectly.”
Ortiz's phone buzzed.
She checked it.
“Wade's SUV was just spotted.”
“Where?”
“Interstate 65.”
“Heading where?”
“North.”
“Is Linda with him?”
“Traffic camera caught two people.”
Ortiz enlarged the image.
Wade was driving.
Linda sat beside him.
Sarah expected Linda to look frightened.
She didn't.
Even through the grainy traffic-camera photograph, Linda seemed calm.
She was holding something red in her hand.
Emma saw the picture from the bed.
Her face changed.
“That's it.”
Sarah turned.
“What?”
Emma pointed.
“The red thing.”
The flash drive.
Linda still had it.
But Emma whispered something else.
“Grandma lied to him.”
“About what?”
Emma looked at Sarah.
“The drive doesn't have the papers.”
“What does it have?”
May you like
Emma swallowed.
“My video.”
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