Chapter 8 - The Brother Who Claimed He Was Saving Us
Police located the SUV forty minutes later.
Abandoned beneath an overpass.
There was blood on the rear seat.
No Ethan.
No Marcus.
A phone lay on the pavement.
It belonged to my brother.
The last outgoing call had been made to Elaine.
Marcus’s wife.
She denied speaking with him.
Phone records proved the conversation lasted eleven minutes.
We returned to the Carter mansion.
The barbecue tables remained outside.
Burgers had gone cold beneath silver covers.
Daniel’s empty paper plate still lay near the grill.
Elaine stood in the entrance hall with her attorney.
“I don’t know where Marcus is.”
“Then tell me what he said.”
“He was confused.”
“Eleven minutes, Elaine.”
She looked toward Daniel.
“He said Sarah had destroyed everything.”
“What else?”
“He said he was taking Ethan somewhere safe.”
“Safe from whom?”
“From the board.”
Michael had warned us not to trust them.
Now Marcus used the same phrase.
Elaine poured herself water, but her hand shook.
“William created a private committee inside Carter Group. Marcus called it the inner board.”
“Who served on it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You have been married to him for eighteen years.”
“He did not tell me everything.”
“No. He only taught you not to ask.”
She looked down.
I understood that kind of marriage.
The old wallet remained in my bag.
I placed it on the table.
Elaine stared at it.
“You recognize this.”
“Marcus searched the house for it after William died.”
“Why?”
“He said it contained access to the founder’s account.”
“The forty-eight million?”
“No.”
She looked toward her attorney.
He advised her not to continue.
Elaine ignored him.
“A much larger account.”
“How large?”
“More than a billion.”
The old wallet division had moved illegal payments, but it also held evidence of every Carter executive involved.
My father hid the list behind a biometric lock.
The wallet contained the physical key.
Daniel picked it up before I could stop him.
A faint green light appeared along the inner seam.
The leather scanned his fingerprint.
A tiny speaker activated.
My father’s voice said:
“Hello, Daniel.”
Everyone froze.
The wallet had been designed for him.
Not me.
A panel opened along the back.
Inside was a memory chip.
Elaine stepped backward.
Marcus had spent years searching for a key only Daniel could activate.
That explained the forged guardianship petition.
He needed legal custody to control the boy and the account.
I inserted the chip into a secure computer.
A list of names appeared.
Marcus Carter.
William Carter.
Leonard Price.
Three directors currently sitting on the board.
And one name I did not expect.
Ethan Cole.
Beside each name was a number.
Payments.
Ethan had received twelve million dollars from the founder’s account.
Michael stared at the screen.
“That is impossible.”
The records showed Ethan receiving the money one day before disappearing.
Marcus had told part of the truth.
Ethan had taken money.
But the reason remained hidden.
A video file appeared beneath his name.
I opened it.
Ethan sat across from my father.
William pushed a contract toward him.
“Twelve million dollars,” my father said. “In exchange, you disappear from Sarah’s life and accept legal paternity of the child.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Whose child is he?”
May you like
My father answered quietly.
“Marcus’s.”
