Chapter 12 - Lily’s Name
Daniel wanted to tear the documents in half.
Naomi stopped him.
“They’re copies.”
“I know.”
“Then tearing them won’t help.”
“I know.”
But he needed to destroy something.
Six-point-four million dollars had been moved through an account bearing his daughter’s name.
On paper, Daniel controlled it.
If investigators saw only the documents, Daniel looked less like Victor’s victim and more like Victor’s partner.
“Who opened it?” Rebecca asked.
Naomi pointed to the application.
“Submitted through Hale Private Banking.”
Daniel recognized the relationship manager.
Philip Garrison.
A longtime family friend.
“He knows me.”
“Which means?”
“He knows I wouldn’t open a trust without calling him.”
Naomi nodded.
“That helps.”
Rebecca turned another page.
The trust required a certified birth certificate.
“Only a few people had copies.”
“Us,” Daniel said.
“And your mother.”
Eleanor had managed Samuel’s estate planning after Lily’s birth.
Daniel called her.
She answered immediately.
“Is Lily all right?”
“Did you give Victor her birth certificate?”
Silence.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“When?”
“Last year.”
“Why?”
“He told me Samuel had intended to create education trusts for all future grandchildren.”
“There are no other grandchildren.”
“I know.”
“What did you think six million dollars was for?”
“I didn’t know it was six million.”
“Did you sign anything?”
“No.”
“Did you ask questions?”
Eleanor began crying.
“I believed him.”
Daniel’s anger went strangely quiet.
“Why?”
“Because I needed to.”
That answer hurt more than ignorance.
Eleanor continued.
“After Samuel died, Victor told me the company would survive only if we kept control. He said you would panic if you learned what had happened.”
“And you agreed.”
“Yes.”
“Again.”
“Yes.”
Daniel sat down.
“Mom, Victor used Lily’s name to launder money and frame me.”
“I know that now.”
“No. You helped him do it.”
She sobbed.
Daniel felt no satisfaction.
Only exhaustion.
“Why was Victor at my house?”
Eleanor whispered, “I already told you.”
“No. You told me why you were there. Why was he there?”
“I called him after I left.”
“What did you say?”
“That Rebecca might have Samuel’s evidence.”
“And?”
“I told him she had a meeting that afternoon.”
“You knew she’d be gone.”
“Yes.”
“What about me?”
“I thought you were at the office.”
“So he knew the house would be empty except for Lily.”
Eleanor went silent.
Daniel’s stomach twisted.
“Celia left because of you.”
“Yes.”
“And Lily was there.”
“I forgot preschool was closed.”
Daniel stood so quickly the chair struck the wall.
“You forgot?”
“I swear to you, Daniel, I never thought—”
“You made my child collateral damage because you were protecting a company.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel—”
He ended the call.
Rebecca was crying silently.
Naomi remained professional but pale.
Daniel walked toward the backyard doors.
The drained pool lay beyond them.
He imagined Lily in the cage.
Calling for him.
Then another thought came.
“How did Victor know where to look for the ledger?”
Rebecca frowned.
“What?”
“Lily said ‘blue book.’ Victor came for documents. But the ledger had been missing for eighteen months.”
Naomi looked up.
“Maybe he believed you had recovered it.”
“Why?”
Rebecca stared toward the office hallway.
Then her expression changed.
“My safe.”
“What safe?”
“The small one in your study wall.”
Daniel followed her.
Behind a framed architectural drawing was a digital safe installed years earlier.
Rebecca entered a code.
It opened.
Empty.
She stared.
“I put Samuel’s copied property documents here.”
“When?”
“Two days ago.”
Daniel felt cold.
“Who knew the code?”
“Only you and me.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I never knew there was a safe.”
Rebecca looked at him.
Then both of them understood.
May you like
Someone else had known the code.
And Victor had gotten it from somewhere.
