Chapter 12 - THE MONEY TRAIL
Morrow International had no public office.
No employees.
No website.
No obvious owner.
But it had received more than thirty million dollars from my trust.
I looked at Mark.
“Who owns it?”
“We're still investigating.”
Daniel placed another file on the table.
“We found something.”
Inside was an old photograph.
My grandfather stood beside three men.
One was Richard.
One was my father.
The third man was unfamiliar.
I stared at him.
Then I saw the name handwritten on the back.
Jonathan Morrow.
Mark went pale.
“You know him?”
“No.”
“But your grandfather did.”
We searched old corporate records.
Jonathan Morrow had been my grandfather's financial adviser.
He had disappeared shortly before my grandfather's death.
The company bearing his name had been created the same year.
I felt a cold certainty settle over me.
Richard wasn't the mastermind.
He was another piece.
I called the investigator.
“Find Jonathan Morrow.”
“We've been trying.”
“Try harder.”
Three hours later, the investigator called.
“We found him.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“New York.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Send me everything.”
The file arrived.
Jonathan Morrow was seventy-one.
Retired.
Living under his real name.
And according to the records, he had never been connected to Morrow International.
Which meant someone had used his identity.
Mark stared at me.
“There is another possibility.”
“What?”
“Your grandfather may have created the company.”
“For what?”
“To hide assets.”
I opened the original trust.
There was one handwritten note attached.
Some wealth must remain invisible until Elena is ready.
My grandfather had known.
He had known someone would come after the inheritance.
He had hidden money.
But why?
Then we found the final document.
It was a letter.
Not from my grandfather.
From Jonathan Morrow.
Dated three weeks before my grandfather died.
It said:
If they come for Elena, give her the black ledger.
Mark looked at me.
“What black ledger?”
I didn't know.
Then I remembered the underground room.
The files.
The surveillance.
The hidden documents.
We returned to the island.
Daniel searched every room.
Nothing.
Then Mia walked into the office.
She was holding an old wooden box.
“Mommy, I found this under Grandpa's picture.”
I froze.
The box was locked.
Inside was a black leather ledger.
My hands trembled as I opened it.
Names filled the pages.
Bank accounts.
Payments.
Secret companies.
Politicians.
Business leaders.
Judges.
And beside each name was an amount.
My grandfather had been documenting everything.
At the very back was one final page.
It contained only one name.
Morrow.
Underneath it:
He betrayed me.
I looked at Mark.
Then my phone rang.
A man's voice spoke.
“You found the ledger.”
I froze.
“Who is this?”
“You know who.”
Jonathan Morrow.
He continued:
“Now you finally understand why your grandfather was afraid.”
“What happened to him?”
Silence.
May you like
Then:
“He was murdered.”
