Chapter 7 - THE BROTHER WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
I showed the photo to Detective Torres.
She enlarged the image.
Sophie’s eyes were red.
But she wasn’t visibly injured.
The back seat had tan leather.
There was a reflection in the window.
A gas-station sign.
Torres immediately sent it to her team.
Rachel grabbed my arm.
“Ethan, I can explain.”
I pulled away.
“That sentence has become my least favorite sentence in the English language.”
“Luke was involved.”
“In what?”
“The money.”
I stared at her.
“Your brother helped Daniel steal from my company?”
“Yes.”
“And he’s alive?”
“Yes.”
“How long have you known?”
Rachel looked at the floor.
“Always.”
I stepped backward.
It felt like every person I had loved had built another fake wall around me.
“You let me attend his funeral too?”
Rachel’s eyes filled.
“That was different.”
“How?”
“He disappeared before we were married.”
“You told me he died in a climbing accident.”
“I lied.”
“Right.”
“Ethan…”
“Stop saying my name like that fixes anything.”
Vanessa sat nearby, still handcuffed.
She spoke quietly.
“Luke was the one who introduced Daniel to Rachel.”
Rachel spun toward her.
“Not now.”
“No. Now is perfect.”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Daniel didn’t invent the fraud.”
“Vanessa.”
“Luke did.”
Rachel shouted, “Shut up!”
Detective Torres stepped between them.
“Everybody stops deciding what I should and shouldn’t hear.”
She pointed at Vanessa.
“Talk.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Luke created fake vendors years ago. Daniel expanded it. Rachel found out after Sophie was born.”
I looked at Rachel.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Did you participate?”
“No.”
Vanessa laughed.
Rachel lunged toward her.
An officer blocked her.
Vanessa said, “Tell him about the account in Zurich.”
Rachel froze.
I felt sick.
“What account?”
“It wasn’t mine,” Rachel said.
“Whose name?”
“Yours.”
The beach seemed to tilt.
“Mine?”
“Luke created it using your identity.”
“How much?”
Rachel hesitated.
“How much?”
“Twenty-two million.”
I couldn’t speak.
Detective Torres stared at her.
“You’re telling me someone laundered twenty-two million dollars through an account under Mr. Cole’s name?”
“Yes.”
“And that account still exists?”
“I don’t know.”
Vanessa said, “It does.”
We all looked at her.
She continued.
“Daniel planned to transfer the balance tomorrow after Ethan signed the merger.”
That was why he needed my vote.
The merger wasn’t just about control.
It would bury the accounting history under a larger corporate structure.
Torres asked, “Why kidnap Sophie?”
Vanessa looked at Rachel.
“Because Luke doesn’t want the money.”
Rachel whispered, “He wants revenge.”
“Against me?” I asked.
Rachel didn’t answer.
Vanessa did.
“He thinks you stole Rachel from him.”
I frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
Rachel pressed a hand against her forehead.
“Luke was unstable.”
“That’s a convenient word.”
“He controlled me for years.”
That stopped me.
Rachel’s voice changed.
Quieter now.
“When our parents died, Luke handled everything. Money. School. Friends. He decided who I could see.”
I had never heard this.
“He hated anyone he couldn’t control,” she continued. “When I met you, he thought I was betraying him.”
“So he vanished?”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“I paid him to leave.”
“How much?”
“Five hundred thousand.”
I stared.
“From where?”
“My inheritance.”
Vanessa said, “And he came back when he ran out.”
Rachel turned away.
My phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Sophie?”
A man laughed.
I knew the voice.
I had heard it once at Rachel’s supposed funeral.
A stranger in the back row who left before the service ended.
“Hello, Ethan.”
“Luke.”
“Finally.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“Safe.”
“If you touch her—”
“You always were dramatic.”
“Put Sophie on.”
A pause.
Then her voice.
“Daddy?”
My knees nearly gave out.
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“He says Mommy lied.”
I looked at Rachel.
Luke took the phone back.
“She did.”
“What do you want?”
“The Zurich account.”
“I don’t have access.”
“But Rachel does.”
She shook her head violently.
Luke laughed.
“I can hear her breathing.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“Luke.”
“Hi, little sister.”
“Let Sophie go.”
“Give me the key.”
“What key?”
“Don’t insult me.”
Rachel’s face changed.
I noticed.
Luke did too, even over the phone.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
She whispered, “I destroyed it.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Luke—”
“You have until sunrise.”
The call ended.
I stared at Rachel.
“What key?”
She looked at me.
And for the first time that night, she seemed more afraid of me than anyone else.
“A key to the account.”
“Where is it?”
May you like
She swallowed.
“Sophie has it.”
