Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO WANTED EVERYTHING
Richard Reed had not spoken to Mark in seven years.
He was Mark and Daniel’s father’s younger brother.
Once, he had served as vice chairman of Reed Industries.
Then he had been removed after a brutal family dispute.
Mark had been thirty-five.
Daniel had been thirty-one.
Their father had discovered Richard quietly selling company information to a competitor.
Richard claimed he had been pushed out unfairly.
He left the board.
He left the country.
And according to everything Mark knew, he never came back.
Yet the photograph proved otherwise.
Richard had been inside that restaurant ten months earlier.
Evan ran the image through facial recognition.
Ninety-eight percent match.
Mark stared at the result.
“Find him.”
Detective Ortiz made several calls.
Three hours later, they had an answer.
Richard Reed had entered the United States eleven months earlier using a secondary passport.
He had never left.
He was living under the name Richard Hale.
Sarah looked at Mark.
“Hale?”
Mark understood immediately.
Victoria Hale.
He stood so quickly his chair fell.
“No.”
The police began checking records.
The truth arrived piece by piece.
Victoria’s legal name had been Victoria Hale for most of her adult life.
But her mother’s maiden name was Reed.
Richard Reed had fathered a daughter during an affair thirty-seven years earlier.
That daughter was Victoria.
Mark stared at the records in disbelief.
“She is my cousin.”
Sarah felt sick.
“And she married you without telling you?”
Mark’s expression became hollow.
“She did not marry me.”
“What do you mean?”
“She entered my family to reach the trust.”
The scheme suddenly became clearer.
Richard had lost his position in the company.
Charles Vance had lost access to the trust.
Robert Keller controlled the financial systems.
Victoria controlled Mark’s home.
Together, they had access to everything.
But there was still a problem.
Even if Mark died, Noah would inherit a huge portion of the family holdings.
If Noah were removed from the trust, control could pass through other family branches.
Including Richard.
Sarah looked at the papers.
“That is why she wanted Noah gone.”
Mark’s fists tightened.
“She married me because Daniel’s death was not enough.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Mark answered.
A man laughed softly.
“Hello, nephew.”
Mark’s blood froze.
“Richard.”
“I see you finally opened Daniel’s little box.”
Mark looked at Ortiz.
The detective motioned for him to keep talking.
“You killed him.”
Richard laughed again.
“Careful.”
“Where are you?”
“You always were emotional.”
Mark’s voice became low.
“You touched my brother.”
“Daniel touched things that did not belong to him.”
“You murdered him.”
“I corrected a problem.”
Sarah saw Mark’s hand tremble.
Then Richard changed tone.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
“What?”
“The trust.”
Mark laughed without humor.
“You will never touch it.”
“Then perhaps we should discuss the child.”
Mark looked toward Noah.
Richard continued.
“Victoria failed because she became impatient.”
“You will stay away from him.”
“You cannot hide forever.”
The call disconnected.
Detective Ortiz looked at the phone trace.
“Burner device.”
Mark turned to her.
May you like
“He knows where we are.”
At that exact moment, the safe house alarm began to scream.
