The name Thomas had given Rebecca was Arthur Price.<\/p>\n
Evelyn's husband.<\/p>\n
The man everyone believed had died twenty years earlier.<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared at the investigator.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe'll verify it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn said he died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn looked like she might faint.<\/p>\n
\u201cI attended his funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigator asked quietly, \u201cDid you see the body?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas there a closed casket?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever see a death certificate?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigator requested it.<\/p>\n
The certificate existed.<\/p>\n
But the signature belonged to a doctor who had also received payments connected to Victor Ames.<\/p>\n
Another piece fell into place.<\/p>\n
Arthur had not died.<\/p>\n
He had disappeared.<\/p>\n
And someone had created a legal death to protect him.<\/p>\n
The investigators found a photograph of Arthur taken recently.<\/p>\n
He was older.<\/p>\n
Gray-haired.<\/p>\n
Walking into a small apartment building.<\/p>\n
The building was in another state.<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared at the image.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's been there this whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what we need to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n
They located the apartment.<\/p>\n
Arthur was gone.<\/p>\n
But the apartment contained books, old financial records, and a computer.<\/p>\n
On the wall was a calendar.<\/p>\n
Several dates were circled.<\/p>\n
One was the date of Rebecca's father's death.<\/p>\n
Another was the date Rebecca disappeared.<\/p>\n
Another was the date Sophie was rescued.<\/p>\n
The final circled date was only weeks away.<\/p>\n
The investigator looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's your next hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca felt the familiar chill.<\/p>\n
Arthur had been watching.<\/p>\n
For decades.<\/p>\n
They searched the computer.<\/p>\n
Most of the files were encrypted.<\/p>\n
One folder was open.<\/p>\n
It contained photographs of Rebecca from childhood.<\/p>\n
Her first day of school.<\/p>\n
Her graduation.<\/p>\n
Her wedding.<\/p>\n
Sophie as a baby.<\/p>\n
Sophie at school.<\/p>\n
Rebecca's stomach turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn't surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigator looked at the images.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The photographs had been collected over decades.<\/p>\n
Arthur had documented the Carter family.<\/p>\n
There were notes beneath some.<\/p>\n
Potential successor.<\/p>\n
Too young.<\/p>\n
Not ready.<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared at the words.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigator continued reading.<\/p>\n
One note concerned her father.<\/p>\n
He is becoming suspicious.<\/p>\n
Another said:<\/p>\n
Must be contained before disclosure.<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked away.<\/p>\n
She felt anger rising.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy me?\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigator found the answer in another file.<\/p>\n
Her grandfather had placed family assets into a trust.<\/p>\n
The trust was controlled through a voting structure.<\/p>\n
Rebecca had inherited control when her father died.<\/p>\n
She had never known.<\/p>\n
The structure was dormant.<\/p>\n
But whoever controlled the trust could influence several companies still holding pieces of the original network.<\/p>\n
Rebecca's father had tried to dismantle those assets.<\/p>\n
He had not succeeded.<\/p>\n
Instead, he had hidden the documents.<\/p>\n
The blue folder was not merely evidence.<\/p>\n
It contained instructions for dissolving the remaining structure.<\/p>\n
That was why Guardian wanted it.<\/p>\n
That was why Rebecca had been targeted.<\/p>\n
If she could access the trust, she could destroy the network's financial foundation.<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked at the investigator.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they weren't trying to get money from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey needed me to sign something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe're still looking.\u201d<\/p>\n
They found the document later that day.<\/p>\n
It was a transfer agreement.<\/p>\n
If Rebecca signed it, control of the trust would pass to a holding company.<\/p>\n
The holding company was controlled by Arthur.<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared at the signature line.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey wanted me to transfer everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the basement?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo pressure you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the medical plan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo discredit you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the surveillance?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo know whether you were close to discovering this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca finally understood the entire chain.<\/p>\n
It had never been random.<\/p>\n
Every event had served the same objective.<\/p>\n
Control the trust.<\/p>\n
Silence Rebecca.<\/p>\n
Protect the network.<\/p>\n
The investigator discovered another document.<\/p>\n
It had been prepared before Rebecca was kidnapped.<\/p>\n
The document named a replacement trustee.<\/p>\n
Daniel Mercer.<\/p>\n
Rebecca laughed in disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey planned to make Daniel control it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly temporarily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur.<\/p>\n
Everything led back to him.<\/p>\n
But there was still one mystery.<\/p>\n
Why had Arthur disappeared?<\/p>\n
Why had he allowed Victor to become the public face?<\/p>\n
Why had he let people believe he was dead?<\/p>\n
The investigators eventually found him at a rural property.<\/p>\n
He didn't run.<\/p>\n
He stood on the porch when they arrived.<\/p>\n
Rebecca was there.<\/p>\n
Arthur looked at her.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, neither spoke.<\/p>\n
Then he said, \u201cYou look like your father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca's voice was cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't get to say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur lowered his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose I don't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou watched me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou watched Sophie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou used my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI used your grandfather.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou used my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to stop him from making the same mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou imprisoned me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never ordered the basement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who did?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur didn't defend himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The simplicity of the answer made her angrier.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause by then the system was beyond my control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou created it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI created the structure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou created Guardian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur looked toward the fields.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I believed money could protect people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt did to me then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur explained.<\/p>\n
He had built the original investment network to protect family businesses from economic instability.<\/p>\n
Victor joined later.<\/p>\n
He became more aggressive.<\/p>\n
He discovered ways to hide money.<\/p>\n
He began bribing officials.<\/p>\n
Arthur objected.<\/p>\n
But by then, too many people depended on the network.<\/p>\n
He tried to leave.<\/p>\n
Victor threatened him.<\/p>\n
Arthur staged his death.<\/p>\n
He believed disappearing would protect Evelyn.<\/p>\n
He believed Victor would eventually lose interest.<\/p>\n
He was wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn't you expose him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was a coward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched your father try.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur's voice broke.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted to destroy everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you help?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I could control Victor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou couldn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Dad died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Victor kill him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know who arranged it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael Grant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca froze.<\/p>\n
The name landed like a blow.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was working for Victor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me he helped my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he also betrayed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father trusted him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca felt sick.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor had not merely been compromised years later.<\/p>\n
He had been there from the beginning.<\/p>\n
But Arthur wasn't finished.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael eventually regretted it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn't excuse him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did he become a prosecutor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo destroy the network from inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't he tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Victor still had people everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur handed her a document.<\/p>\n
It was a letter from Michael.<\/p>\n
He had written that he was trying to dismantle Guardian.<\/p>\n
He couldn't expose everything at once without putting witnesses at risk.<\/p>\n
Rebecca read it.<\/p>\n
Michael had written her father's name.<\/p>\n
He had promised to finish what her father started.<\/p>\n
But he also admitted that he had made terrible choices.<\/p>\n
Rebecca folded the letter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still don't trust him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat may be the first thing I've done right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigators arrested Arthur.<\/p>\n
He didn't resist.<\/p>\n
As he was led away, he turned toward Rebecca.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is one thing you don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor wasn't the final architect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur looked toward the investigators.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey think I created Guardian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI created the structure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who created the idea?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour grandfather.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe understood people better than I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he create?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA network designed to survive anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandfather died decades ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how could it still exist?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause before he died, he left instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur smiled sadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the family trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca's stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
The trust wasn't simply an asset.<\/p>\n
It was the final piece of Guardian.<\/p>\n
And Rebecca had inherited it.<\/p>\n
The name Thomas had given Rebecca was Arthur Price. Evelyn's husband. The man everyone believed had died twenty years earlier. Rebecca stared at the investigator. \u201cThat isn't possible.\u201d \u201cWe'll verify … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7235","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\/7235","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=7235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7270,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7235\/revisions\/7270"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}