Chapter 9 - The Phone Under the Table
Nathan searched the kitchen himself.
The police had already examined the room.
His private security consultant had swept it twice.
They found nothing.
Grace watched from the doorway.
“Maybe she took it.”
Nathan crouched beneath the table.
“Lily said she put it here.”
He ran his fingers under the wooden frame.
Nothing.
Then Grace pointed toward a narrow decorative panel near the floor.
“That wasn’t loose before.”
Nathan pulled.
A magnetic cover released.
Inside was a miniature recording device.
Grace’s face hardened.
Nathan photographed it before touching anything.
Elliot arrived twenty minutes later with a digital forensics specialist.
The device contained three days of recordings.
Victoria’s voice appeared on several.
So did Charles’s.
The first conversation was brief.
Victoria whispered.
“She still hasn’t told him.”
Charles answered through a speakerphone.
“Then make sure she doesn’t.”
Another recording captured Grace talking to Mrs. Alvarez.
She had been considering telling Nathan the truth.
Victoria had heard everything.
A later recording captured Charles again.
“If she intends to disclose paternity, we move to the contingency plan.”
Victoria asked.
“The hospital records?”
“All of it.”
Nathan looked at Elliot.
“There’s our conspiracy.”
The specialist held up a hand.
“There’s more.”
The final recording was made the morning of the attack.
Victoria entered the kitchen alone.
She called Charles.
Her voice sounded agitated.
“Nathan is coming home early.”
Charles answered.
“Then get Grace out before he arrives.”
“I tried.”
“She won’t leave without the child.”
There was silence.
Then Charles said something that made Nathan’s skin turn cold.
“The child is the problem.”
Victoria whispered.
“I know.”
Charles continued.
“Do what is necessary.”
The recording ended.
Grace wrapped both arms around herself.
Nathan stood.
For several seconds he could not speak.
Elliot looked at him.
“This is enough to reopen everything.”
Nathan nodded.
“And enough to arrest Charles?”
“Potentially.”
“What about Victoria?”
“Assault, conspiracy, evidence fabrication.”
“Depends on corroboration.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
She appeared more exhausted than relieved.
“What are you thinking?”
Grace stared at the device.
“That they were listening while Lily ate breakfast.”
“While I packed her lunch.”
“While she asked why you never came to her birthday.”
Nathan lowered his eyes.
Grace continued.
“I spent years believing I was the one who failed her.”
Nathan looked up.
“You kept her alive.”
“I kept her hidden.”
“You were forced to.”
Grace’s voice cracked.
“But she still grew up without you.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“So did I.”
Grace looked at him.
“I lost four years too.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Nathan’s phone rang.
Margaret Hale from the board.
He almost ignored it.
Elliot nodded.
“Answer.”
Nathan did.
Margaret did not sound hostile this time.
“We have a problem.”
“You have several.”
“I mean a new one.”
Nathan waited.
“Someone moved forty-two million dollars from Cole Meridian’s acquisition reserve last night.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
“To where?”
“A Whitmore-controlled holding company in Luxembourg.”
Nathan stared at Elliot.
Margaret continued.
“The authorization carries your digital signature.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“Of course it does.”
“If regulators believe you approved it, you could be charged.”
Nathan looked at the recording device.
“They’re not just trying to take Lily.”
“No.”
Margaret’s voice lowered.
“They’re trying to put you in prison.”
Nathan ended the call.
Grace stared at him.
“This is because you chose us.”
He shook his head.
“This is because they need me quiet.”
Elliot began typing.
“We need to establish when your authentication credentials were compromised.”
Nathan remembered something.
“The engagement party.”
Elliot looked up.
“What?”
“Victoria insisted I use her father’s private office to approve a financing document.”
“She brought me a security token.”
Elliot’s expression changed.
“If it was cloned—”
“They’ve had access for months.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Every trap had been laid before Grace entered his home.
The engagement.
The financing.
The fake payment.
The kidnapping records.
They had not improvised.
They had anticipated his choice.
Then Grace whispered.
“Your father knew.”
Nathan looked at her.
“The letter.”
“He said if they came for Lily.”
“He expected this.”
Nathan stared toward the safe room where the remaining estate documents were stored.
Richard Cole had left more than a confession.
He had left a map.
Nathan and Elliot spent the night reviewing every sealed item.
At 1:38 a.m., they found a ledger.
It listed payments made over five years.
Private investigators.
Hospital employees.
Police consultants.
Corporate officers.
One recipient appeared again and again.
DETECTIVE MICHAEL WARREN.
May you like
Nathan stared at the name.
The detective who had arrived with Grace’s kidnapping warrant had been on Charles Whitmore’s payroll for four years.
