Chapter 7 - Grandpa’s Secret Room
Charles Bennett’s private office occupied the top floor of Bennett Holdings.
Police obtained a warrant before dawn.
Daniel accompanied Detective Hale.
The office looked exactly as Daniel remembered from childhood.
Dark wood.
Leather chairs.
Family photographs.
Awards.
And an antique bronze horse statue on the desk.
Hale placed Vanessa’s charm beside it.
Same design.
Smaller scale.
An officer examined the statue.
The charm fitted into a narrow opening beneath its base.
Click.
A hidden drawer opened inside Charles Bennett’s desk.
Daniel stared at what lay within.
Three passports.
Cash.
Encrypted drives.
And photographs.
Dozens of them.
Michael meeting attorneys.
Rachel leaving work.
Noah walking into school.
Claire entering her apartment months before the wedding.
Daniel picked up that photograph.
“Why was he watching Claire?”
Hale looked through the others.
“Maybe he watches everyone.”
Then they found a file marked DANIEL.
Inside were financial reports about Daniel’s division of Bennett Holdings.
Performance evaluations.
Private emails.
And a document dated two years earlier.
Succession Recommendation.
Charles had planned to remove Michael from the company.
Daniel was named replacement CEO.
Daniel shook his head.
“I never knew.”
Hale found another file.
CLAIRE MONROE.
Daniel opened it.
Background checks.
Employment history.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Then a handwritten note.
Potential influence on Daniel. Difficult to control.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“He investigated my wife.”
“Before she was your wife.”
Daniel looked at the date.
Eleven months earlier.
Two weeks after he and Claire began dating.
Hale opened the encrypted drive.
“We’ll need digital forensics.”
Then Daniel noticed one final envelope.
NOAH.
He tore it open.
Inside was a custody document.
Temporary guardianship.
Charles Bennett.
Signed by Vanessa.
Daniel stared.
“This was prepared three months ago.”
Hale read it.
“If Michael became incapacitated, Vanessa could transfer temporary guardianship to Charles.”
Daniel felt nauseated.
“This wasn’t about tonight.”
“No.”
“They planned for Michael to become incapacitated.”
Hale didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Then an officer shouted from the hallway.
“Detective!”
Security had found something in the parking garage.
Charles Bennett’s driver.
He was unconscious inside a locked SUV.
Alive.
And Charles was gone.
But there was someone else in the back seat.
Rachel Kim.
Her wrists were bound.
She was injured, terrified, and very much alive.
When paramedics opened the door, Rachel looked directly at Daniel.
“Where’s Noah?”
“He’s safe.”
Rachel began crying with relief.
Then she grabbed Daniel’s sleeve.
“Charles is going to the hotel.”
“Why?”
“He needs the boy.”
Daniel’s heart stopped.
May you like
Rachel whispered:
“Noah saw where Charles hid the original ledger.”
