Chapter 4 - Five Hundred Dollars Was Bait
By two in the morning, the family had split into two groups: people demanding answers and Evelyn demanding a lawyer.
I was in neither group.
I was in the bathroom cleaning blood off my mouth when Ortiz knocked.
"Claire? I need to ask you about the five hundred dollars."
I opened the door.
She held a clear evidence bag. Inside were five crisp hundred-dollar bills.
"Where did you find those?"
"In the pocket of the apron you were wearing."
For one second, the floor seemed to tilt.
"I never put money there."
"I believe you may not have. But someone wanted us to find it."
I thought about Evelyn grabbing me from behind while I stood at the sink.
Her hands had been in my hair, on my shoulders, against my back.
Close enough to slip money into an apron pocket.
"She planted it during the attack," I said.
Ortiz nodded. "That's one possibility."
When we returned to the kitchen, Richard had opened his laptop. His hands shook as he logged into the company system.
"Bellhaven is a reserve account," he explained. "Emergency funds. Only Victor, Daniel, and I have authorization."
Daniel stood across the room like a defendant already waiting for sentencing.
Richard's face changed as he read the screen.
"Two hundred forty thousand. Three transfers. All approved under Daniel's credentials."
Eric swore.
I looked at Daniel. "Did you approve them?"
"No."
"Can Victor use your credentials?"
"Not without my token."
Ortiz asked, "Where is the token?"
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
"My mother asked to borrow my work bag two weeks ago. She said Dad needed tax documents from it."
Richard whispered, "I never asked for anything."
Evelyn stared at the wall.
I wanted to hate only her.
That would have been easier.
But Daniel had been handing her trust like a loaded weapon for years, then acting shocked when someone got hurt.
Ortiz asked him to come to the station voluntarily in the morning.
Then an officer entered from the hallway holding a small black device.
"Detective, we found this behind a stack of cookbooks."
Daniel recognized it instantly.
"That's my security token."
Ortiz looked at Evelyn.
"In your mother's kitchen?"
He nodded.
Evelyn shot to her feet.
"She put it there! Claire put it there!"
I almost laughed.
"I didn't even know what it was."
Then Ortiz's phone rang.
She listened for less than ten seconds.
Her eyes moved to me.
"We have another problem."
"What now?"
She ended the call.
"A business account was opened six months ago using your Social Security number and your maiden name."
My stomach dropped.
"What business?"
Ortiz answered carefully.
"CJM Consulting. It's where part of the Bellhaven money went."
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