Frank crossed the room toward me.<\/p>\n
Reed blocked him.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
Not fear.<\/p>\n
Fury.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s lying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron heard him through the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI expected you to say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
I kept the call on speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cProve it,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Aaron was quiet for a moment.<\/p>\n
Then he gave Joanna an account number.<\/p>\n
She typed it into her laptop.<\/p>\n
Her expression tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not answer immediately.<\/p>\n
Then she turned the screen.<\/p>\n
Mercer Development Holdings.<\/p>\n
Frank\u2019s name appeared as controlling beneficiary.<\/p>\n
Frank stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen that account.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron said, \u201cLook at the opening date.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joanna did.<\/p>\n
Six years earlier.<\/p>\n
The same period when Mercer Consulting began receiving money through Helena\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
Another company appeared beneath it.<\/p>\n
FJM Property Acquisitions.<\/p>\n
Joanna opened the transfer history.<\/p>\n
Money moved between Crescent-linked companies, FJM, Hawthorne Residential, and accounts tied to properties Frank had bought.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank.\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t authorize those.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour signature is here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cForged.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s convenient.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what forged signatures look like in this family.\u201d<\/p>\n
She flinched.<\/p>\n
Aaron continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe accounts were authenticated with biometric confirmation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank looked confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVoice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Joanna found the authorization logs.<\/p>\n
Audio approvals.<\/p>\n
Frank\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n
She played one.<\/p>\n
\u201cApprove transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two words.<\/p>\n
Definitely Frank.<\/p>\n
Another.<\/p>\n
\u201cConfirmed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another.<\/p>\n
\u201cProceed.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at the computer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t me.\u201d<\/p>\n
It sounded exactly like him.<\/p>\n
Reed looked at Joanna.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould it be synthetic?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow? Easily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut six years ago?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMore difficult. Not impossible if they used recorded fragments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas recorded everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron said, \u201cFrank has an answer for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you have his money,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n
Aaron paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he moved the trust assets into escrow because he believed Frank intended to drain them.<\/p>\n
He claimed the seventy-two-hour inheritance structure gave Frank time to manipulate ownership after his staged death.<\/p>\n
According to Aaron, the so-called behavioral test for Diane and Ross had not been moral at all.<\/p>\n
It was leverage.<\/p>\n
If they challenged Frank\u2019s activities, their inheritance disappeared.<\/p>\n
If they complied, they received millions.<\/p>\n
Frank shouted, \u201cThat\u2019s not true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why ten thousand?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy leave us ten thousand if we failed your test?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou expected us to behave badly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou designed the trust around it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd somehow that has nothing to do with controlling us?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank had no good reply.<\/p>\n
Aaron told us to open Frank\u2019s home-office safe.<\/p>\n
I looked at Frank.<\/p>\n
He went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s in it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing related to this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not reassuring anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
The safe was upstairs behind a framed photograph of us at Yellowstone.<\/p>\n
Frank gave Reed the combination.<\/p>\n
Inside were insurance papers, passports, several envelopes, a revolver registration, and a black notebook.<\/p>\n
Aaron said, \u201cOpen the notebook.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank swore under his breath.<\/p>\n
I took it.<\/p>\n
Inside were names.<\/p>\n
Some I recognized from Joanna\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n
Crescent Holdings.<\/p>\n
Hale.<\/p>\n
Thomas Vale.<\/p>\n
Margaret.<\/p>\n
Howard.<\/p>\n
Helena.<\/p>\n
But beside each name were numbers.<\/p>\n
Dates.<\/p>\n
Payment amounts.<\/p>\n
My hand shook.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank answered immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron said, \u201cLedger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank glared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cInvestigation notes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joanna took the notebook.<\/p>\n
She compared one figure with Thomas\u2019s old ledger.<\/p>\n
Match.<\/p>\n
Another.<\/p>\n
Match.<\/p>\n
Then a transfer connected to an elderly couple who had lost their home in 2019.<\/p>\n
Joanna knew the case.<\/p>\n
She had investigated it years earlier.<\/p>\n
Their property was purchased below value after a disputed lien.<\/p>\n
The buyer was one of Frank\u2019s companies.<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you buy their house?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was trying to keep it from Crescent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou bought it through a company they controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Through one I controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joanna looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cFJM?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you do know that company.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank froze.<\/p>\n
Everyone heard it.<\/p>\n
His earlier denial.<\/p>\n
I stepped backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you\u2019d never seen it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought she meant Mercer Development.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe showed you both.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, she\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
His face went pale.<\/p>\n
Aaron said nothing.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n
For the first time since Frank came home alive, I was afraid of him.<\/p>\n
Not because I believed every accusation.<\/p>\n
Because I had caught him lying in real time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you lie?\u201d<\/p>\n
He rubbed his forehead.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause FJM is complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is complicated when you don\u2019t want to tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used it to buy properties targeted by the network.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo protect owners.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank said several owners could not be told because Crescent would retaliate.<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou bought people\u2019s homes without them understanding why?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used intermediaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe?\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
There it was again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is we?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank looked toward Reed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need immunity before I answer that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross exploded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Reed\u2019s eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat crimes did you commit?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank said nothing.<\/p>\n
Diane backed away.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt strangely calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
His shoulders dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI moved money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMillions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross swore.<\/p>\n
Diane covered her mouth.<\/p>\n
Frank rushed to explain.<\/p>\n
The money was stolen already.<\/p>\n
Taken through fraudulent liens, forced sales, and shell companies.<\/p>\n
Frank and others rerouted it before Crescent could collect.<\/p>\n
Sometimes they returned it to victims indirectly.<\/p>\n
Sometimes they used it to finance investigations.<\/p>\n
Sometimes they bought properties to keep them from the network.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho authorized you to do that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Aaron is right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were running financial operations through the same system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo break it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t make the transactions imaginary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The truth had become unbearable because both versions could be true.<\/p>\n
Frank could have fought criminals using criminal methods.<\/p>\n
He could also have become what he was fighting.<\/p>\n
Aaron spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk him about Gregory Hale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
I almost didn\u2019t want to know.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Gregory?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank answered before Aaron could.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe worked with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoing what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoving assets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he dead?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched him die.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another silence.<\/p>\n
Reed stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did Gregory Hale die?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank stared at the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what the police report says.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank glared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no police report.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron said, \u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reed\u2019s voice became harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the body?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank did not answer.<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe buried him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross laughed with disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course you did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d Reed asked.<\/p>\n
Frank looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the same cemetery where Thomas was buried today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room fell silent.<\/p>\n
There was already another secret grave.<\/p>\n
Frank said Gregory had been helping Howard and Helena.<\/p>\n
Thomas discovered him.<\/p>\n
They met near an abandoned construction site eighteen months earlier.<\/p>\n
Thomas shot Gregory.<\/p>\n
Frank and Howard arrived afterward.<\/p>\n
Gregory died before an ambulance could help.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you call police?\u201d Reed asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Gregory was carrying documents that would expose Helena.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you buried him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe moved the body.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank knew it.<\/p>\n
He admitted Howard arranged a burial under another identity.<\/p>\n
Another false death.<\/p>\n
Another hidden body.<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many bodies are under names that don\u2019t belong to them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
My anger vanished for one frightening second.<\/p>\n
All that remained was distance.<\/p>\n
I loved this man.<\/p>\n
I no longer knew what loving him meant.<\/p>\n
Aaron told Joanna to check the final page of the black notebook.<\/p>\n
She turned to it.<\/p>\n
One line.<\/p>\n
SEPTEMBER 25.<\/p>\n
EILEEN TRUST \u2014 4.8.<\/p>\n
Joanna stared at Frank.<\/p>\n
My trust.<\/p>\n
The exact approximate value of Frank\u2019s estate.<\/p>\n
Written before his supposed death.<\/p>\n
Beside it was another notation.<\/p>\n
72 HOURS.<\/p>\n
My hands went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank took one step toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot what Aaron says.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI needed the trust funded so I could move assets if the operation failed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross looked stunned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou planned to use her inheritance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI planned to protect it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy moving it without telling her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank said nothing.<\/p>\n
Aaron\u2019s voice came softly from the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why I moved it first.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Frank.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were going to take control of the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTemporarily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gave me trustee authority.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you kept a way around me.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Something inside me broke quietly.<\/p>\n
Not dramatically.<\/p>\n
No shouting.<\/p>\n
No tears.<\/p>\n
Just a final internal sound, like a lock turning.<\/p>\n
I told Reed I wanted Frank out of my house.<\/p>\n
This time Reed did not object.<\/p>\n
Frank was now a potential suspect.<\/p>\n
Officers escorted him to the porch.<\/p>\n
He stopped at the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cEileen.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not look at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love you.\u201d<\/p>\n
That almost made me laugh.<\/p>\n
Instead I said, \u201cThen for once, let the truth arrive before you do anything to protect me from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He left.<\/p>\n
Ten minutes later, Aaron gave us an address.<\/p>\n
A motel outside Sequim.<\/p>\n
He said he would meet Reed there with documents proving Frank had controlled the network.<\/p>\n
Reed arranged surveillance first.<\/p>\n
Aaron was not there.<\/p>\n
Room empty.<\/p>\n
Bed untouched.<\/p>\n
On the desk lay a folder.<\/p>\n
Inside were banking records.<\/p>\n
Photographs.<\/p>\n
A flash drive.<\/p>\n
And a handwritten note.<\/p>\n
Not from Aaron.<\/p>\n
From Margaret.<\/p>\n
YOU ARE ALL WATCHING THE WRONG MERCER.<\/p>\n
Joanna read it twice.<\/p>\n
Then Ross said quietly, \u201cFrank isn\u2019t the only Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
We looked at him.<\/p>\n
He pointed toward himself.<\/p>\n
Then Diane.<\/p>\n
Then something seemed to occur to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane followed his thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cHelena.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Helena\u2019s surname had been Mercer for decades.<\/p>\n
Too obvious.<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
A photograph from an unknown number.<\/p>\n
Aaron tied to a chair.<\/p>\n
Blood on his shirt.<\/p>\n
Alive.<\/p>\n
Behind him stood a man with his face outside the frame.<\/p>\n
Only one hand visible.<\/p>\n
On the ring finger was a heavy gold signet ring.<\/p>\n
Frank did not wear one.<\/p>\n
Ross didn\u2019t either.<\/p>\n
Diane stared at the image.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa Samuel\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank\u2019s father.<\/p>\n
The man Frank said died when he was nineteen.<\/p>\n
At the bottom of the photograph was a message.<\/p>\n
SAMUEL MERCER WOULD LIKE HIS FAMILY BACK.<\/p>\n
Frank crossed the room toward me. Reed blocked him. \u201cStay there.\u201d Frank\u2019s face changed. Not fear. Fury. \u201cHe\u2019s lying.\u201d Aaron heard him through the phone. \u201cI expected you to say … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19783"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19818,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19783\/revisions\/19818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}