Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEAREDThe trace failed.
Rebecca Sloan had called from an internet-based number routed through multiple servers.
Professional enough to avoid easy identification.
Desperate enough to contact me anyway.
Agent Morgan immediately requested emergency location assistance.
Parker pulled everything available on Rebecca.
Thirty-eight years old.
Former certified public accountant.
Worked for North River Systems for eleven months.
Resigned six weeks earlier.
No criminal history.
Single.
No children.
Current address listed in Maryland.
But when agents checked the address, Rebecca was gone.
Her apartment had been empty for nearly a month.
No forwarding address.
No active utilities.
No recent credit card use.
The last legitimate transaction anyone could find was a cash withdrawal for $9,000.
Then she vanished.
David sat at the kitchen table while information accumulated around him.
He looked older than he had at Christmas dinner.
I watched him carefully.
“You recognize her name?”
“No.”
“Think.”
“Jessica, I said no.”
“North River Systems.”
“I had never heard of the company until tonight.”
“Your father owns it.”
“Apparently.”
“Your sister received money connected to it.”
“I know.”
“Your credentials were used to access information that benefited it.”
“I know.”
“And an accountant says your name is on everything.”
He slammed his palm against the table.
“I KNOW!”
Chloe cried upstairs.
Everything stopped.
I looked at him.
David immediately regretted it.
“Jessica…”
“Leave.”
“What?”
“Go to a hotel.”
“Come on.”
“You just woke Chloe.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She’s already scared.”
“I said I’m sorry.”
“And I said leave.”
His face hardened.
“This is my house too.”
The deed was in both names.
Legally, he was right.
Emotionally, I didn’t care.
Agent Morgan stepped between us.
“Mr. Bennett, tonight is probably not the ideal time for a domestic disagreement.”
David looked at the federal agent in his living room.
Then at me.
“Fine.”
He grabbed his coat.
Before leaving, he stopped.
“I didn’t do this.”
I didn’t answer.
“Jessica.”
“I heard you.”
“Do you believe me?”
I looked at the man I had shared a bed with for nine years.
I wanted certainty.
I had none.
“I believe I don’t have all the facts.”
His expression collapsed.
Then he left.
At 3:00 a.m., the investigators finally departed.
Parker stayed another fifteen minutes.
“You need sleep.”
“I need answers.”
“You won’t get better answers exhausted.”
I knew he was right.
I hated that he was right.
He stood near the front door.
“Jessica.”
“What?”
“Tomorrow is going to be ugly.”
“It already is.”
“No.”
His expression remained serious.
“If North River is Richard’s company, this becomes political quickly. Halstead has major federal contracts. Richard has donors, senators, business connections.”
“Then we follow evidence.”
“I know.”
He hesitated.
“And your family?”
“They’re not my priority.”
Parker glanced upstairs.
“Your daughter is.”
“Yes.”
He left.
I slept for ninety minutes.
At 5:30, Chloe climbed into my bed.
She curled against me.
Her cheek looked better.
My heart did not.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Is Daddy mad?”
“No.”
“Are you mad?”
“Yes.”
She considered that.
“At me?”
“Never.”
She rested her head on my shoulder.
“Aunt Victoria said I was spoiled.”
“You are loved.”
“Is that the same?”
“No.”
She smiled slightly.
Good.
I needed that smile.
By 8:00 a.m., Christmas morning had officially become the strangest morning of our lives.
I made pancakes.
Chloe opened presents.
I kept my secure phone on the kitchen counter.
She received a science kit, roller skates, books, and the dollhouse she had been begging for since October.
For thirty minutes, we pretended everything was normal.
Then the doorbell rang.
Margaret.
Of course.
She stood outside wearing a camel-colored coat and an expression of righteous indignation.
I opened the door but did not invite her inside.
“Merry Christmas, Jessica.”
“What do you want?”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“May I see my granddaughter?”
“No.”
Her expression changed.
“I am her grandmother.”
“You stood five feet away while Victoria slapped her.”
“I didn’t expect Victoria to do that.”
“You defended her afterward.”
“I was trying to keep the situation from escalating.”
“You blamed Chloe.”
“I did not.”
“You said children need discipline.”
“That is not blaming her.”
“Goodbye, Margaret.”
I began closing the door.
She put her hand against it.
“Wait.”
I stopped.
“David told us about your job.”
Interesting.
“How much?”
“That you are a colonel.”
“Congratulations.”
Her mouth tightened.
“Why did you hide that from us?”
“I didn’t.”
“We would have remembered.”
“You didn’t care.”
“That is unfair.”
“You’ve spent seven years telling people I sit around the house.”
“You never corrected us!”
“Why would I owe you a résumé?”
Her face reddened.
“You let us look foolish.”
There it was.
Not remorse.
Embarrassment.
My achievement mattered only because it made her previous behavior look bad.
“You managed that yourself.”
She lowered her voice.
“Richard says there is some misunderstanding involving the company.”
“Then Richard should speak to investigators.”
“He wants to speak to you first.”
“No.”
“Jessica.”
“No private conversations.”
“Why are you treating him like a criminal?”
“I didn’t call him a criminal.”
“You’re investigating the family.”
“I’m not discussing federal matters with you.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You always thought you were better than us.”
I almost laughed.
“That is an extraordinary thing to say after years of reminding me I wasn’t good enough.”
“You manipulated David.”
“How?”
“By hiding who you were.”
“Being a colonel would have made you treat me better?”
She hesitated.
That answer told me everything.
“You should leave.”
“I’m not leaving without seeing Chloe.”
“Yes, you are.”
“What are you going to do? Call the police?”
“If necessary.”
Her face transformed.
“You wouldn’t.”
I pulled out my phone.
She stared at it.
Then stepped backward.
Before leaving, she said quietly, “You’re destroying this family.”
I looked at her.
“No, Margaret.”
“Then who is?”
“Maybe the people who kept secrets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Her face changed.
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
But I saw it.
Fear.
She knew something.
“Margaret.”
“What?”
“What do you know about North River Systems?”
Her face emptied.
“Nothing.”
A lie.
“What did Richard tell you?”
“Nothing.”
Another lie.
“You should speak to an attorney.”
She stared at me.
“Are you threatening me?”
“No.”
“I think you are.”
“I’m warning you.”
She walked quickly toward her car.
I watched her leave.
Then I called Parker.
“Margaret knows something.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Experience.”
“Military?”
“Mother-in-law.”
He almost laughed.
“I’ll pass it on.”
At 10:20 a.m., Agent Morgan called.
“We found Rebecca.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“West Virginia.”
Relief.
Then Morgan continued.
“She walked into a sheriff’s office forty minutes ago.”
“Why?”
“She says people have been following her.”
“Who?”
“She doesn’t know.”
“What does she have?”
“Documents.”
“How much?”
“Enough that she’s asking for federal protection.”
I looked toward Chloe, who was building her dollhouse.
“Does she mention David?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“What does she say?”
“That Richard instructed accounting staff to move payments through David’s division.”
“That doesn’t mean David knew.”
“Correct.”
“And Victoria?”
Morgan paused.
“Rebecca claims Victoria managed client communications with the companies buying information.”
I closed my eyes.
“Can I speak to Rebecca?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“She’s terrified.”
“Of Richard?”
“She says Richard is dangerous.”
That surprised me.
Richard was controlling.
Arrogant.
Cold.
But dangerous?
Morgan continued.
“And she said something else.”
“What?”
“Six weeks ago, an employee at North River threatened to report the scheme.”
“What happened?”
“He died.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
“Car accident.”
“Was it suspicious?”
“It wasn’t considered suspicious at the time.”
“What was his name?”
“Thomas Reed.”
I wrote it down.
“Relationship to Rebecca?”
“Supervisor.”
“Did Richard know Thomas planned to report him?”
“Rebecca believes so.”
A cold silence filled the room.
Christmas lights blinked peacefully beside me.
Chloe hummed while arranging dollhouse furniture.
And somewhere underneath the ordinary world, something ugly was unfolding.
Morgan lowered her voice.
“Jessica, Rebecca says Thomas left a copy of everything.”
“Where?”
“She doesn’t know.”
“Who has it?”
“She says he gave it to someone he trusted.”
“Name?”
“No name.”
I stared at the Christmas tree.
Then Chloe looked up.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Daddy’s here.”
I turned.
David stood outside the front window.
But he wasn’t alone.
Richard stood beside him.
I opened the front door but stayed in the doorway.
David looked nervous.
Richard looked composed.
“Merry Christmas, Jessica.”
“Richard.”
“We need five minutes.”
“No.”
“Please.”
I studied him.
“Federal investigators have asked that nobody potentially connected discuss the matter privately.”
He smiled.
“Potentially connected?”
“You own North River Systems.”
David looked sharply at his father.
Richard’s expression did not change.
“That is a legitimate investment entity.”
“One you never told your son about?”
“My finances are private.”
“Apparently.”
He lowered his voice.
“This investigation could harm a lot of innocent people.”
“That happens when powerful people make bad decisions.”
His eyes hardened.
“You think you understand what’s happening.”
“I understand enough.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“You have no idea what you’ve walked into.”
I almost smiled.
“Richard, people have said that to me in three countries.”
He stared at me.
For the first time, I saw him recalculating.
“You really are a colonel.”
“Yes.”
“I underestimated you.”
“Yes.”
David looked between us.
“Dad, just tell us the truth.”
Richard ignored him.
Instead, he looked at me.
“Ask your investigators about Thomas Reed.”
My pulse shifted.
“How do you know Thomas?”
Richard smiled faintly.
“Because he wasn’t trying to expose me.”
“Then who?”
“He was trying to expose your husband.”
David went still.
“What?”
Richard turned toward his son.
“I’m sorry.”
David stared at him.
“Sorry for what?”
Richard’s next words destroyed the morning.
“North River wasn’t my idea, David.”
May you like
He paused.
“It was yours.”
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