Chapter 14 - THE BREAK-IN
Nothing else had been touched.
Computers remained.
Cash remained.
Jewelry remained.
Only the DNA reports were gone.
Police found no forced entry.
Whoever entered had used a valid security code.
Only four people knew it.
Me.
Rachel.
My housekeeper.
And Ryan.
I looked at him.
For half a second, the old reflex returned.
Suspicion.
He saw it.
“You think I took them.”
“I don’t know what I think.”
Ryan nodded slowly.
“Good.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means don’t make my mistake.”
The words stopped me.
He handed his phone to the detective.
“Check my location.”
“Search my car.”
“My hotel.”
“Anything.”
Within an hour, security footage cleared him.
It also showed the real intruder.
My former housekeeper.
Angela Mills.
She had worked for me two years.
I trusted her with my children.
Police arrested her at a bus station.
She confessed quickly.
Charles had been paying her since the day she was hired.
He knew where I lived.
Where the boys attended preschool.
When we traveled.
Which doctor they saw.
Everything.
I felt physically sick.
Ryan looked ready to explode.
But he stayed beside me.
No shouting.
No threats.
He simply asked,
“Where are the reports?”
Angela began crying.
“I gave them to Mr. Harrison’s attorney.”
“Which attorney?”
“Daniel Cross.”
Julia went pale.
Daniel Cross was one of the most powerful corporate litigators in New York.
And Charles’s closest friend.
By midnight, Cross had filed an emergency petition.
He claimed the boys’ genetic information proved they were potential beneficiaries of a Harrison medical trust.
He asked the court to appoint an independent guardian over their financial interests.
In practical terms, Charles wanted control of my children’s inheritance.
I read the filing twice.
“He’s trying to take them.”
Julia shook her head.
“Not physically.”
“Not yet.”
Ryan stood.
“He won’t get near them.”
Julia looked at him.
“Emotion won’t win this.”
Ryan nodded.
“What will?”
“Proof that Charles manipulated the trust for personal control.”
Ryan looked at me.
“There’s one person who might have it.”
“Who?”
“My mother.”
I stared.
Ryan almost never spoke about Eleanor Harrison.
She had left the family when he was thirteen.
He told everyone she preferred Europe to motherhood.
Now he looked uncertain.
“What if that story was another lie?”
Julia located Eleanor in Switzerland.
Before we could call, an email arrived.
Sender.
ELEANOR HARRISON.
May you like
Subject.
I HAVE BEEN WAITING TWENTY-FIVE YEARS FOR RYAN TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION.
