Chapter 5 - The Greenhouse
The Bennett estate stood twenty minutes outside the city.
Police arrived first.
Claire stayed at the hotel with Noah.
Daniel went with Detective Hale.
The greenhouse sat behind Michael and Vanessa’s home, surrounded by dark gardens and old stone walls.
Rachel’s phone lay beneath a workbench.
Its screen was cracked.
There was no Rachel.
But there was blood on the floor.
Not much.
Enough.
A trail led toward the back door and disappeared across the wet grass.
Daniel stared at it.
“Vanessa was at the hotel.”
Hale nodded.
“So someone else was here.”
They searched the greenhouse.
Behind stacked bags of soil, an officer found a waterproof document case.
Inside were copies of financial records.
And a letter.
Michael had written it.
Daniel recognized his handwriting immediately.
Daniel,
If you’re reading this, I waited too long.
His hands began to shake.
Hale let him continue.
I discovered Vanessa has been moving money through accounts Rachel helped administer. At first I believed Rachel was involved. I was wrong.
Daniel stopped.
“What?”
He read further.
Rachel came to me after discovering Vanessa had used her credentials. She has been helping me document everything.
Daniel looked up.
“Rachel was helping him.”
Hale nodded slowly.
The letter continued.
There is another person involved. Someone with access to our family companies, insurance records, and hotel security systems. Someone I trusted more than I should have.
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
The next line was unfinished.
If anything happens to me, look at—
Nothing followed.
The rest of the page was blank.
Hale cursed quietly.
Daniel looked around.
“Where’s the rest?”
An officer called from the far side.
“Detective.”
They found a second envelope taped beneath a table.
Inside was a photograph.
Michael.
Vanessa.
Rachel.
And a fourth person.
Daniel stared.
“No.”
Hale looked at him.
“You know him?”
Daniel’s voice became hollow.
“That’s our father.”
Charles Bennett.
Chairman of Bennett Holdings.
The man who had toasted Daniel and Claire less than five hours earlier.
The man who had hugged Noah before the ceremony.
The man who had disappeared from the hotel shortly after Noah entered the ballroom.
Hale immediately called the officers there.
“Find Charles Bennett.”
The answer came thirty seconds later.
His suite was empty.
His driver was gone.
His phone had been switched off.
Daniel looked again at the photograph.
On the back, Michael had written a date.
Six months earlier.
The same week the $12 million insurance policy had been reinstated.
Daniel whispered:
“What did you do, Dad?”
Then Hale’s phone rang.
It was the hospital.
Michael Bennett was awake.
May you like
And the first words he had spoken were:
“Don’t trust my father.”
