Chapter 9 - EIGHTY-SIX MILLION
Daniel reached for his phone.
“Freeze it.”
Adrian shook his head.
“We’re trying.”
“The authorization came from two trustees.”
“Who?”
“Ethan.”
Everyone looked at him.
“And you.”
Daniel stared.
“I authorized nothing.”
Adrian handed him the tablet.
Daniel’s digital signature appeared beside Ethan’s.
His credentials.
His authentication key.
Even a facial verification record.
Daniel felt a chill.
Vanessa whispered.
“That’s why Ethan needed Lily gone.”
Daniel turned.
“Explain.”
“The trust has emergency clauses.”
“If both current guardians are considered unavailable, temporary authority transfers.”
“To whom?”
Vanessa looked toward Ethan.
“Owen.”
Ethan’s head snapped up.
“What?”
Vanessa frowned.
“You knew that.”
“No.”
For the first time, Ethan’s fear looked genuine.
Daniel watched him carefully.
Ethan stepped toward the tablet.
“Show me.”
Adrian blocked him.
Daniel held the screen where Ethan could see it.
The receiving account belonged to Mercer International Holdings.
Grant looked up.
“Mercer?”
Daniel remembered the mechanic.
Paul Mercer.
Grant immediately began searching company records.
Thirty seconds later, his face changed.
“Mercer International was incorporated sixteen years ago.”
“Registered agent?”
“Owen Pierce.”
Ethan sat down slowly.
“He played us.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Us?”
Ethan ran a hand over his face.
“I thought the money would move into a protected company account.”
“So you did authorize it.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Daniel lunged forward.
Adrian grabbed him before he reached his brother.
“You tried to steal eighty-six million dollars from my daughter.”
Ethan shouted back.
“I was going to put it back!”
Daniel laughed in disbelief.
“That sentence may be the stupidest thing you have ever said.”
Ethan stood.
“The company is collapsing.”
Daniel stopped.
“What?”
Ethan looked away.
“Reed Biotech has debt you don’t know about.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred and forty million.”
Daniel stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“I hid it.”
“Why?”
“Because three years ago our largest trial failed.”
“The stock would have collapsed.”
“I borrowed money to cover the losses.”
“Then I borrowed more.”
Daniel looked sick.
“You used Lily’s trust as collateral.”
Ethan did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Daniel’s voice went quiet.
“Elena found out.”
“Yes.”
“She was going to report you.”
“Yes.”
“So you stopped her car.”
“I tried to delay her.”
“Did you kill her?”
“No.”
Ethan’s eyes filled with something Daniel had not seen before.
Regret.
“I swear to you.”
“I did terrible things.”
“But I did not order Elena’s death.”
Grant interrupted.
“Then Owen did.”
Ethan looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel’s phone rang.
Adrian answered instead.
He listened.
Then handed it to Daniel.
“The bank.”
Daniel put it on speaker.
A fraud officer spoke rapidly.
“Mr. Reed, we stopped seventy-four million dollars.”
Daniel exhaled.
“And the rest?”
“Twelve million cleared before the freeze.”
“Where?”
“We’re tracing it.”
There was a pause.
“However, you should know the transfer instructions included a secondary beneficiary.”
Daniel frowned.
“Who?”
“Lily Reed.”
Daniel looked confused.
The officer continued.
“The funds were scheduled to be transferred into an account accessible when Lily turns eighteen.”
Ethan stared at the phone.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Daniel asked.
“Who controls it until then?”
The fraud officer answered.
“Owen Pierce.”
Vanessa whispered.
“He never intended to share anything.”
Grant looked toward Daniel.
“Owen wasn’t cleaning up Ethan’s mess.”
“He was building his own exit.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated with an incoming message.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Lily was standing beside the mansion fountain.
The photo had been taken less than an hour earlier.
Underneath were six words.
May you like
YOU OPENED THE WALL.
NOW CHOOSE.
