Chapter 13 - Forty-Eight Hours
Calder’s team searched Sofia’s house that night.
The upstairs room had been used recently. They found a cot, food wrappers, and a shredder. In the fireplace were partly burned papers bearing the foundation’s seal.
Celia had been there after losing access to her office.
Most of the documents were gone, but one page had caught beneath the grate. It was a list of payments to three people: the outside attorney, a hospital records clerk, and a security contractor who had worked for Dante.
The next morning, Celia disappeared.
Her attorney said she had left a meeting at his office and never returned. Police issued a warrant. Mara warned Isabella that Celia might try to bargain with the remaining money before they found her.
The foundation board faced its own deadline. A bank was scheduled to review its charitable status in forty-eight hours. If the board couldn’t show where the clinic funds had gone, the bank could freeze all its accounts. Real programs would miss payroll.
“We need a complete record,” Isabella told Elias. “And we need to protect the staff.”
Elias had traced six million dollars into property held by Celia’s companies. Calder could seek to seize those assets. The other two million remained in the account requiring Dante’s signature.
“Let it sit,” Isabella said. “The bank can see it’s there.”
She spent the day gathering invoices for the programs that truly existed. Nurses needed salaries. Families needed transport to appointments. Isabella refused to let Celia’s fraud close their doors.
That evening, Annie called.
“Leo drew another boat for you.”
“Can I see it at our visit?”
“He wants to give it to you himself.”
Isabella smiled. Then she heard Leo coughing in the background. Annie said he had a mild cold. Isabella reminded her to call the doctor if it worsened. She was trying to learn how to be his mother without acting as though three years could be recovered in a week.
At 9:20, Calder arrived at the guesthouse.
“Celia contacted the hospital clerk,” she said. “She wants the original birth record destroyed before tomorrow’s hearing.”
“Can the clerk reach it?”
“No. We have the archive secured.”
Elias came in behind her with an open laptop.
“I think we found her,” he said. “She used one of her company cards at a marina.”
Calder called her team. Isabella stood by the window and watched rain begin to strike the glass.
Her phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph of Leo’s red backpack sitting on wet pavement.
May you like
Beneath it were six words.
Come alone if you want him safe.
