Chapter 6 - THE ABANDONED BUILDING
At seven the next morning, state police entered the Reed storage facility.
Mark watched the operation remotely from the safe house.
The building had once stored physical company records before everything became digital.
Most of the rooms were empty.
The third-floor archive room was not.
Police found desks.
Printers.
Document scanners.
Fake corporate seals.
Stacks of financial forms.
And photographs.
Hundreds of photographs.
Mark.
Noah.
Sarah.
Evan.
Company executives.
Judges.
Bankers.
Trust officers.
One wall contained a timeline of the Reed family.
Mark’s father.
Daniel.
Emily.
The accident.
Noah’s birth.
Daniel’s death.
Mark’s marriage to Victoria.
Sarah stared at the screen.
“This was planned before Daniel died.”
Mark did not answer.
A detective named Lena Ortiz called from the scene.
“Mr. Reed, we found something else.”
“What?”
“A file marked D.R.”
Mark’s heart stopped.
Daniel Reed.
Detective Ortiz continued.
“It contains photographs of your brother’s vehicle.”
Mark gripped the desk.
“From the accident?”
“Some are dated before the accident.”
Sarah looked at Mark.
“What do they show?”
Ortiz paused.
“Someone inspecting the brake system.”
The safe house became silent.
Mark whispered, “My brother’s death was ruled accidental.”
“I know.”
“Are you saying it was not?”
“I am saying we have evidence someone was interested in his brakes before the crash.”
Mark sat down.
Daniel and Emily had died on a wet highway five months earlier.
The police report blamed speed, rain, and brake failure.
Mark had never questioned it.
Why would he?
Now the room seemed to tilt.
Sarah moved closer.
Mark stared blankly at the tablet.
“Victoria married me six months before Daniel died.”
Sarah realized what he was thinking.
“You cannot know she was involved.”
“No.”
Mark’s voice was flat.
“But Charles Vance knew Daniel.”
“How?”
“He handled parts of my father’s estate.”
Ortiz spoke again.
“There is more.”
Mark looked at the tablet.
“We found payments.”
“To whom?”
“One payment went to a mechanic.”
Mark closed his eyes.
The detective read the name.
“Samuel Price.”
Mark knew it.
Samuel had inspected Daniel’s vehicle one week before the accident.
Sarah covered her mouth.
Mark stood.
“Where is Price now?”
Ortiz hesitated.
“That is the problem.”
“What problem?”
“He disappeared four months ago.”
Mark stared at the screen.
May you like
The detective continued.
“And according to immigration records, the last person to purchase him an international airline ticket was Robert Keller.”
