Chapter 9 - THE FORTY-MILLION-DOLLAR GHOST
Bearer certificates.
Old instruments.
Whoever physically possessed them could potentially claim ownership, though modern banking rules made liquidation difficult.
Thomas had hidden them after the investment scandal.
Brenda stared at Margaret.
“That money came from investors.”
“Some of it.”
“From my father?”
“Yes.”
“From people he defrauded?”
“Yes.”
Margaret looked ashamed.
“I wanted to turn everything over after Thomas died.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I was afraid.”
Brenda laughed without humor.
“Everyone in this family calls fear protection.”
Mariana looked at her.
Brenda realized what she had said.
Neither woman smiled.
Andrew asked, “Can Julian cash the certificates?”
“Not easily,” Detective Brooks said. “But he may use them as leverage or move them offshore.”
Mariana thought about Eastbridge.
“The vendor payments.”
Brenda nodded.
“Funding an exit.”
Andrew called an emergency board meeting.
Mariana stopped him.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Julian wants us reacting.”
“He stole forty million dollars.”
“We think.”
“You’re defending him?”
“I’m refusing to repeat your mistake.”
Andrew went quiet.
Mariana continued.
“We prove it.”
Brenda volunteered to trace Sterling Capital records.
Andrew looked suspicious.
“Why help?”
She looked at him.
“My father may have stolen from hundreds of people.”
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
Brenda’s expression hardened.
“But if Julian has evidence, I want it before he decides what story to tell with it.”
Mariana understood.
Brenda did not suddenly become good.
She wanted control of the truth.
That was useful if watched carefully.
They traced Eastbridge through four shell companies.
The final beneficiary was not Julian.
It was Margaret Vance.
Andrew stared at his mother.
Margaret looked genuinely stunned.
“I didn’t create it.”
Mariana asked, “Could Thomas have?”
“No.”
“Could Julian?”
“Yes.”
Brenda said, “Or Margaret is lying.”
Andrew snapped, “Enough.”
Brenda looked at him.
“You slapped your wife based on less evidence than this.”
Silence.
Andrew had no reply.
Mariana almost admired the precision.
Margaret agreed to forensic examination of her accounts.
At 2:00 a.m., auditors found scheduled transfers.
Twelve million from Vance Hospitality.
Eight million from a Sterling trust.
Destination: Eastbridge.
Final transfer scheduled for 8:00 a.m.
Authorized by Margaret’s biometric credentials.
Margaret whispered, “Impossible.”
Mariana asked, “Where do you authenticate transactions?”
“My phone.”
“Where is it?”
Margaret reached into her handbag.
Empty.
Her phone was gone.
Andrew called it.
A ringtone sounded upstairs.
They followed it.
Into Mariana’s bedroom.
The phone lay inside Mariana’s open safe.
Beside it was Margaret’s missing emerald necklace.
May you like
Complete.
Except for the clasp.
