Chapter 10 - Thomas Wakes Up
Thomas was in a private hospital room under federal protection.
He had been found unconscious in a motel outside Milwaukee.
No wallet.
No phone.
No luggage.
Someone had purchased a plane ticket using his passport.
Someone wanted investigators to believe he had fled.
Thomas opened his eyes when I entered.
He looked twenty years older.
“Maya.”
I sat beside him.
“You scared me.”
His lips trembled.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For waiting too long.”
Agent Cole stood near the door.
Thomas looked toward him.
“I want immunity.”
Cole answered carefully.
“That depends on what you tell us.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“David started moving money eighteen months ago.”
My stomach tightened.
“Eighteen?”
“Yes.”
“He told me the transfers were temporary.”
“He said the company needed liquidity before an acquisition.”
“Why did you help?”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“Because the first document was legitimate.”
“You signed it.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“He asked for another.”
“I refused.”
Thomas swallowed.
“Nolan told me the board had already approved everything.”
“I checked.”
“They hadn’t.”
Agent Cole leaned forward.
“What happened next?”
“David showed me copies of transactions carrying Maya’s authentication certificate.”
I stared at Thomas.
“You knew he had my key.”
“I suspected it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me immediately?”
His eyes filled.
“Because he threatened the trust.”
“What does that mean?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Your father created a protective clause.”
“If a trustee became implicated in criminal conduct, control temporarily shifted to the secondary administrator.”
“David convinced me that if I accused him without proof, he would manufacture evidence against you.”
I felt sick.
“He threatened to frame me.”
Thomas nodded.
“And take control of Lily’s trust while you defended yourself.”
Agent Cole asked.
“Who attacked you?”
“I never saw his face.”
“But I know who arranged it.”
“Nolan?”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
Silence filled the room.
Thomas looked at me.
“Julianne.”
I stared at him.
“That makes no sense.”
“She called me the night before David returned.”
“What did she say?”
“She knew about the USB drive.”
“She wanted money.”
Agent Cole’s expression changed.
“For silence?”
“Yes.”
Thomas continued.
“She said David had promised her three million dollars if she carried the drive through customs.”
My mind flashed back to Julianne in our empty house.
Her terror.
Her tears.
Her claim that she knew nothing.
Thomas gripped my wrist.
“Maya, she is not some innocent mistress David manipulated.”
“She knew he was moving money.”
“She knew about the trust.”
“And there is something else.”
I leaned closer.
“What?”
Thomas whispered.
“She knew Lily was in the hospital.”
My hand went numb.
“No.”
“She called me while Lily was still alive.”
“What did she say?”
Thomas looked horrified by the memory.
“She said, ‘If Maya keeps calling, David might go home.’”
Then Thomas told me the sentence I would never forget.
May you like
“She asked me how long meningitis usually takes to become fatal.”
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