Chapter 9 - THE RABBIT’S SECRET
Beatrice called Leo into the room. He picked up the memory card by its edges and placed it in a clean envelope.
“Did you put this in there?” he asked.
“No.”
Lily woke when she heard them. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the rabbit.
“Mommy did,” she said.
Leo sat beside her. “When?”
“Before she went away. She said Mr. Hops could keep a secret until I was big enough to give it to you.”
Leo closed his eyes. Elena had hidden the card two years earlier. Lily had carried it through every hospital visit, every sleepless night, and the afternoon in the cellar.
Dana arranged for investigators to copy the card. Leo and Beatrice waited while a technician checked it.
There were invoices, emails, and one short video. In the video, Elena sat at the kitchen table, tired but steady.
“Leo,” she said, “I hope I get to show you this myself.”
He gripped the back of a chair.
Elena explained that shipments were being falsely recorded under one of their companies. She had found documents suggesting Graham Kensington was responsible. She believed someone inside Leo’s business had helped him gain access, but she did not know who.
Then her face changed.
“I also found a payment made the night you were in New York,” she said. “It was approved with Mateo’s credentials. Ask him about it.”
The video ended.
Mateo stood across the room. He looked as stunned as Leo felt.
“I never approved that payment,” he said.
Leo wanted to believe him. This time, he needed proof.
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The technician opened the transaction record Elena had saved. Beside Mateo’s credentials was an access location.
It came from a computer inside Leo’s own office.
