Chapter 6 - THE RECORDING
No one moved.
Amelia’s voice filled the basement.
“Three patients connected to foundation lawsuits had their records altered after Richard contacted Victor.”
“I confronted Victor yesterday.”
“He denied it.”
“But I recorded part of our conversation.”
The audio changed.
A man’s voice appeared.
Victor Hale.
“You should leave this alone, Amelia.”
“Why?”
“Because your husband has a company to protect.”
“My husband has nothing to do with this.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know Ethan.”
“Do you?”
There was a pause.
Then Amelia.
“If you threaten my family again, I go to the police.”
Victor’s voice became colder.
“You won’t make it that far.”
The recording ended.
Ethan stared at the device.
Detective Collins immediately called the district attorney.
The investigation changed within hours.
This was no longer only attempted custodial interference and financial fraud.
It was potentially connected to Amelia Blackwood’s death.
Richard became a fugitive.
Victor Hale became a person of interest.
Celeste requested an attorney.
Then she stopped speaking.
Ethan wanted answers.
Instead, he focused on Sophie.
A child psychologist arrived that afternoon.
Ethan stayed nearby while Sophie described the previous six months.
Celeste had become stricter.
She had forbidden Sophie from entering Amelia’s former bedroom.
She had repeatedly told Sophie that Ethan was too busy for her.
She had asked questions about what Sophie remembered from her mother.
Then three weeks earlier, Sophie found Amelia’s photograph behind a loose board in her old nursery.
The key had been taped to the frame.
Celeste caught her holding it.
After that, everything changed.
“She kept asking what Mommy wrote,” Sophie said.
“I told her nothing.”
“Why?”
“Because Mommy said secrets only stay safe if bad people think you don’t know them.”
Ethan nearly cried.
His six-year-old daughter had been protecting evidence without even understanding it.
That evening, Detective Collins came to him.
“We traced Richard’s phone.”
“Where?”
“It went dead near Stamford.”
“Did you find him?”
“No.”
“What about Hale?”
“He entered the United States three days ago.”
Ethan’s stomach tightened.
“Three days?”
“He flew into Boston.”
That meant Victor Hale was already close.
“Why would he come back now?”
Collins looked toward the evidence boxes.
“Maybe because someone told him Sophie found the photograph.”
Ethan understood.
Celeste.
Richard.
Or both.
Collins continued.
“We also found something else.”
She handed him a printed banking record.
A transfer for five million dollars had been scheduled from an account tied to Sophie’s trust.
Destination.
Zurich.
Authorization date.
Tomorrow.
“How?”
“The trust requires in-person biometric confirmation from the beneficiary’s guardian.”
“I’m her guardian.”
“Currently.”
Ethan stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“Richard filed emergency papers in Swiss court claiming you were mentally unstable after Amelia’s death.”
Ethan almost laughed from disbelief.
“Seven years ago?”
“The petition has been dormant.”
“Until now?”
Collins nodded.
“Someone reactivated it two weeks ago.”
Ethan knew exactly why.
The plan had been prepared for years.
They had been waiting for Sophie to become old enough for a trust clause to activate.
“What happens tomorrow?”
“If Sophie appeared in Zurich with Celeste and forged guardianship papers, the transfer could potentially be approved.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
“She was never going to bring Sophie back.”
Collins did not answer.
She did not need to.
Upstairs, a crash sounded.
Then Sophie screamed.
Ethan ran.
He reached the second-floor hallway.
Sophie stood outside her bedroom.
The window was open.
A stone lay on the carpet.
Wrapped around it was a piece of paper.
Ethan picked it up.
May you like
Three words were written in black ink.
GIVE BACK THE LEDGER.
