Chapter 4 - THE LETTER FROM HER FATHER
Mary did not sleep.
At 4:12 a.m., she sat in her father’s old library overlooking Manhattan while accountants examined six years of financial records.
Olivia worked from the dining table.
Daniel spoke with forensic investigators.
Mary held a sealed envelope.
Her father had written her name across it.
MARY ELIZABETH BENNETT.
Daniel had found the envelope inside a safe deposit box that could only be opened if Thomas Bennett’s authority was formally challenged.
Mary broke the seal.
The first line made her chest tighten.
If you are reading this, then Thomas has probably done exactly what I feared.
Mary read faster.
Her father had suspected his younger brother of manipulating subsidiary accounts years earlier.
But he had lacked proof.
Then the stroke happened.
Before losing the ability to manage the company, Richard Bennett had quietly changed the trust structure.
Thomas believed he would control the family’s shares if Mary failed.
He was wrong.
Richard had placed permanent control in Mary’s hands.
There was something else.
A name.
Northstar Capital.
Mary looked up.
“Olivia.”
Olivia hurried over.
“What?”
“Search Northstar Capital.”
Olivia typed.
The company appeared to be a private investment fund registered in Delaware.
Its beneficial owners were hidden behind several holding companies.
Daniel joined them.
Mary handed him the letter.
“My father thought Thomas was moving money through Northstar.”
Olivia’s fingers stopped.
“What is it?”
She turned the tablet around.
Northstar Capital had purchased significant debt belonging to four Bennett subsidiaries.
Daniel frowned.
“If they own the debt, they could force defaults.”
“And acquire the assets.”
Mary’s stomach tightened.
Ethan had not simply been stealing.
Someone was preparing to break Bennett Holdings into pieces.
Mary’s phone rang.
Ethan.
She ignored it.
He called again.
And again.
Finally, she answered.
“What?”
His voice sounded exhausted.
“Meet me.”
“No.”
“Mary, you have no idea what Thomas is capable of.”
She looked at her father’s letter.
“Apparently my father did.”
Silence.
That silence told her Ethan knew about the letter.
“How do you know what my father wrote?”
“I don’t.”
“You reacted too quickly.”
Ethan breathed heavily.
“Meet me alone.”
“Why?”
“Because Vanessa is gone.”
Mary stood.
“What do you mean gone?”
“She left the hotel after you did.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“Her phone was found in the parking garage.”
Mary stopped.
Ethan continued.
“There was blood on the screen.”
Mary closed her eyes briefly.
“Did you call the police?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because the last message she sent was to you.”
Mary’s pulse quickened.
“I didn’t receive anything.”
“It wasn’t a text.”
“What was it?”
“An email scheduled to send if she didn’t cancel it.”
Mary opened her laptop.
A new message had arrived three minutes earlier.
Sender: Vanessa Hart.
Subject: IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME.
Mary opened it.
There was only one sentence.
Ethan is not the person you should fear.
Attached was a photograph of Thomas Bennett standing beside a black SUV.
Behind him was Vanessa.
And behind Vanessa was Mary’s father.
May you like
The photograph had been taken eight years ago.
Three years before Mary ever met Ethan.
