Chapter 7 - THE CORRUPT DETECTIVE
Detective Reyes watched the video again.
Her face remained unreadable.
Marcus noticed something I had missed.
“Margaret isn’t looking at the camera.”
“She’s looking at someone behind it.”
Reyes froze the image.
A reflection appeared in the glass entrance doors.
A man stood near the security desk.
He wore a police jacket.
Reyes zoomed in.
Her expression hardened.
“Captain Nolan.”
“Who is he?”
“My supervisor.”
The room went silent.
Captain Nolan had overseen every widow-fraud investigation for four years.
Every failed case.
Every missing document.
Every witness who had disappeared.
Reyes immediately called a federal agent.
But the line went dead.
The lights inside the bank flickered.
Marcus looked toward the front doors.
Two black vehicles had stopped outside.
“Jack, take Ethan to the rear exit.”
Reyes drew her weapon.
Bank employees began lowering the security shutters.
Then Captain Nolan walked through the front entrance.
He was alone.
He smiled at Reyes.
“Put the gun down, Laura.”
She did not move.
“You buried the widow cases.”
“I protected this department.”
“You protected thieves.”
Nolan glanced at me.
“Mr. Carter, your wife has created a difficult situation.”
“My wife is a murderer.”
“Possibly.”
“But Claire was not innocent either.”
I stepped toward him.
“Do not say her name.”
Nolan held up both hands.
“Claire stole millions from the Haven Foundation.”
“She protected money belonging to victims.”
“That depends on who tells the story.”
Ethan moved closer to me.
Nolan noticed.
“There he is.”
“The heir.”
Reyes aimed directly at Nolan’s chest.
“Stop looking at the boy.”
Nolan sighed.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Amanda never needed the key.”
“She already copied it years ago.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then why has she been searching for the cup?”
“Because the cup does not unlock the money.”
“It unlocks the evidence.”
Nolan looked at Ethan.
“And the boy’s identity unlocks something far more valuable.”
“What?”
“Ownership of the Haven Foundation.”
Ethan stared at him.
“That makes no sense.”
Nolan smiled.
“Your mother founded it.”
Claire had never told me that.
Nolan continued.
“When she discovered her partners were stealing, she tried to shut the foundation down.”
“They killed her before she could.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“Amanda killed Claire.”
“No.”
Nolan’s smile disappeared.
“Amanda followed orders.”
“Whose orders?”
The bank’s rear alarm suddenly sounded.
Marcus checked the security monitor.
Brooke was inside the building.
She had entered through the employee garage.
And she was holding a knife against the bank manager’s throat.
On the monitor behind her, Amanda appeared.
She looked straight into the camera.
May you like
Then she mouthed four words.
Bring me my son.
