Chapter 31 - LUCAS AMBROSE
Lucas Ambrose was not Graham’s business partner.
He was his son.
Emily learned that from Margaret, who looked as if she had been hoping the name would never appear.
“He was twenty-one when Evelyn disappeared,” Margaret said.
“Why is he co-trustee of my mother’s money?”
“Because he helped her get out.”
Diane lifted her head.
“You knew Lucas was alive?”
Margaret looked at her.
“Yes.”
Diane laughed once, bitterly.
“Of course you did.”
Emily turned to Margaret.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try a new answer.”
“I genuinely don’t know.”
Rachel was already searching public records.
Lucas Ambrose had vanished from corporate filings seventeen years earlier.
No social media.
No property under his name.
No active driver’s license.
One death certificate existed in Nevada.
Cause: hiking accident.
Body not recovered.
Emily stared at the screen.
“Another person who died without a body.”
Matthew said, “Your family has terrible paperwork.”
Diane actually laughed.
The sound died quickly.
Emily looked at the trust documents.
“Can I use the money without him?”
Rachel shook her head.
“Not all of it. The trust requires both trustees for distributions above five million.”
“How much can I access alone?”
“Five million in any thirty-day period.”
“Payroll needs forty.”
“Yes.”
Emily exhaled.
“Of course.”
Matthew shifted in his wheelchair.
“My bridge loan remains available.”
Emily looked at him.
“I know.”
He did not repeat the offer.
That helped.
Margaret stood.
“There may be a way to find Lucas.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“You were waiting to say that.”
“I was deciding whether I should.”
“That habit is becoming dangerous.”
Margaret nodded.
“Yes.”
She removed a small brass compass from her purse.
Emily recognized it.
Her mother had carried it in old family photographs.
Margaret opened the back.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
A post office box in Maine.
No name.
“Evelyn told me to send a postcard every January,” Margaret said.
“To Lucas?”
“I think so.”
“You think?”
“He never answered.”
“Did the mail come back?”
“No.”
Matthew asked, “When did you last send one?”
“This January.”
“And it was collected?”
Margaret nodded.
Emily looked at Rachel.
“How fast can we get a legal request for the box holder?”
“Fast if a prosecutor connects it to the Ambrose investigation.”
State police did more than request the records.
They checked recent surveillance.
A man collected mail from the box eight days earlier.
He was in his late fifties.
Gray hair.
Beard.
A limp.
The facial match returned at eighty-seven percent.
Lucas Ambrose.
He was alive.
His vehicle registration led to a cabin near Rangeley, Maine.
Emily wanted to go.
Rachel said no.
Matthew said nothing.
Emily looked at him.
“What?”
“I’m practicing.”
“Annoying.”
“Apparently.”
The police reached the cabin first.
Empty.
The wood stove was still warm.
A mug of tea sat on the table.
On the kitchen counter was a newspaper with Emily’s face on the front page.
Beside it lay a handwritten note.
SHE IS NOT READY.
Emily stared at the photograph sent by investigators.
“Ready for what?”
Nobody knew.
Then the apartment intercom buzzed.
Emily looked at the clock.
2:13 a.m.
The building guard called upstairs.
“There’s a man here asking for you.”
“Name?”
A pause.
“He says Lucas.”
Everyone in the room went still.
Emily went downstairs with Rachel, Marcus, and two state officers.
Lucas Ambrose stood in the lobby wearing an old green jacket and muddy boots.
He looked tired.
Not powerful.
Not impressive.
Just tired.
He studied Emily for several seconds.
Then he smiled faintly.
“You have Evelyn’s angry forehead.”
Emily stared.
“That is a terrible first sentence.”
Lucas nodded.
“I had a better one in the car.”
“What happened?”
“I got nervous.”
The awkwardness disarmed her more than charm would have.
Emily held up the trust document.
“You’re co-trustee.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Your mother didn’t trust banks.”
“She put sixty-three million in one.”
“She didn’t trust people at banks.”
“Better.”
Lucas looked around the lobby.
“Is Graham alive?”
“Yes.”
His face hardened.
“Then we should not stay near windows.”
They moved to a secure room.
Lucas listened while Emily summarized the last two days.
He did not interrupt until she mentioned the attempted sale to Ames Global.
Then he laughed.
“Grant Ames.”
“You know the name?”
“It was his favorite fake name when I was a kid.”
“Why?”
“He thought it sounded trustworthy.”
“It sounds like a man selling timeshares.”
Lucas smiled.
“Evelyn would have liked you.”
Emily looked away.
The sentence hurt too much.
She pushed the trust papers toward him.
“I need forty million to keep Hale Systems operating.”
Lucas did not touch the pages.
“No.”
Emily stared.
“What?”
“I won’t authorize it.”
“Seven thousand people may miss payroll.”
“I know.”
“You came here to say no?”
“I came here to tell you the money is not yours.”
Emily’s face hardened.
“It is my mother’s trust.”
“No.”
Lucas leaned forward.
“It is evidence.”
Silence.
“The sixty-three million came from Ambrose accounts Evelyn drained while she was running.”
Emily’s stomach dropped.
“She stole it?”
“She took money Graham had collected through blackmail and hidden fees.”
“That does not make it legally hers.”
“No.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Wonderful.”
Lucas continued.
“If you move forty million into Hale Systems, Graham’s lawyers will claim the company was funded with stolen assets.”
Emily stared at the trust balance.
Her mother’s miracle had lasted less than a day.
Lucas slid another envelope across the table.
“But Evelyn left something else.”
Inside was a list of account numbers.
Not one trust.
Seventeen.
Lucas said, “These are the people Graham blackmailed.”
Emily looked at the names.
CEOs.
Judges.
Politicians.
One name made her stop.
Samuel Laughton.
Beside his name was a payment dated the morning Ambrose faked his death.
Recipient account: NOLAN PRICE.
Emily looked up.
Lucas’s voice was quiet.
“Graham didn’t fake his death alone.”
Then he pointed to the last line.
May you like
A transfer of two million dollars had been made six hours earlier.
Recipient: DIANE HALE.
