Chapter 7 - THE DEAD MAN CALLS
The phone rang at 2:13 in the morning.
Unknown number.
Nathan answered.
Nobody spoke.
Then an older man whispered.
“Is Margaret there?”
Nathan looked at her.
“Who is this?”
The voice ignored him.
“Put my daughter on.”
Margaret froze.
Nathan activated speakerphone.
“Margaret.”
She stepped closer.
Her lips trembled.
“Dad?”
A long silence followed.
Then the man breathed out.
“Little bird.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
Nathan watched years of control collapse in a single second.
Only her father had called her that.
“You’re alive.”
“I’m sorry.”
Margaret began crying.
“Thirty-eight years.”
“I know.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
The man fell silent.
Nathan interrupted.
“Samuel, where are you?”
“Not somewhere you should come.”
“Richard has Victoria.”
“I know.”
Nathan stiffened.
“You’re watching them?”
“I’m watching everyone.”
“Then tell us what’s happening.”
Samuel’s voice hardened.
“Dominic Rainer has spent twenty years searching for the second ledger.”
“Richard has spent almost as long pretending to help him.”
Margaret looked at Nathan.
“Richard works for Dominic?”
“No.”
Samuel gave a bitter laugh.
“Richard works for Richard.”
Nathan paced.
“What does he want?”
“The Whitmore empire.”
“He already had influence.”
“He wants ownership.”
Samuel continued.
“Your mother stopped him once.”
“That’s why she gave you the ring.”
Nathan glanced at Margaret’s hand.
“What happens now?”
“By placing it on Margaret, you activated the Ellis Trust.”
“Can we reverse it?”
“No.”
Margaret whispered.
“What does that mean?”
“It means every hidden enemy is about to stop hiding.”
Samuel’s voice grew urgent.
“Listen carefully.”
“Dominic needs the second ledger.”
“Richard needs you.”
“Victoria needs both men to believe she is useful.”
“And one of your senior executives has been feeding all three information.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to survive long enough to find out.”
A sound came through the line.
A door.
Samuel stopped speaking.
Then whispered.
“They found me.”
Margaret grabbed the phone.
“Dad?”
A crash followed.
Then silence.
“Dad!”
The line disconnected.
Nathan immediately ordered a trace.
Aaron shook his head ten minutes later.
“Burner relay.”
“No location.”
Nathan looked at Margaret.
She stood motionless.
Then her phone vibrated.
A text appeared from Samuel’s number.
ONE WORD.
ASHES.
Attached was a photograph of a gravestone.
ELEANOR WHITMORE.
Nathan stared.
Margaret whispered.
“Your mother’s grave.”
Nathan understood.
“Something is buried there.”
They drove to the family cemetery before sunrise.
Beneath Eleanor’s headstone, they found a waterproof metal container.
Inside was a cassette recorder.
A photograph.
And a handwritten list of names.
Nathan recognized almost every one.
Executives.
Judges.
Business partners.
One name had been circled twice.
His CFO.
Michael Trent.
Margaret picked up the photograph.
It showed Eleanor, Samuel, Richard, and Victor Rainer standing together in 1997.
All four were smiling.
On the back, Eleanor had written one sentence.
THE FIRE WAS NEVER ABOUT SAMUEL.
Nathan turned the photograph over.
May you like
Below that, almost hidden beneath the edge, was another line.
THEY WERE TRYING TO KILL MARGARET.
