The door opened slowly.
Adrian Shaw stood outside.
His suit was immaculate despite the rain.
Two officers stood behind him.
He looked directly at Mara.
Then at the notebook.
His expression did not change.
“That doesn't belong to you.”
Mara held it tighter.
“You knew about this.”
Shaw smiled.
“I knew your father.”
“You knew he kept records.”
“I knew he kept many things.”
Jonas stepped forward.
Shaw's eyes hardened.
“You.”
Jonas said nothing.
Rivera raised his weapon.
Shaw glanced at him.
“Officer Rivera, put that away.”
Rivera did not move.
“You ordered my arrest.”
“I gave no such order.”
“You sent someone to the old records building.”
“I sent investigators to retrieve stolen property.”
Mara laughed once.
“You call my father's notebook stolen?”
Shaw looked at her.
“You have no idea what you're holding.”
“Then explain it.”
“I'd rather you gave it to me.”
“No.”
Shaw sighed.
“Mara, this isn't a courtroom.”
“Good.”
She lifted the notebook.
“Because I don't think you want a courtroom.”
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But she saw it.
“You've read enough to become dangerous,” he said.
Mara felt cold.
“You just admitted it.”
Shaw looked at Rivera.
“Take her into custody.”
Rivera remained still.
“On what charge?”
“Obstruction.”
“Of what?”
Shaw's voice sharpened.
“Officer, don't make this difficult.”
Rivera looked at Mara.
Then at Jonas.
Finally he lowered his weapon.
But he did not move toward her.
Shaw frowned.
“You're making a mistake.”
Rivera answered quietly.
“Probably.”
He looked at the notebook.
“But I'm starting to think arresting her was the first one.”
One of the officers behind Shaw drew his weapon.
Jonas moved instantly.
He kicked the door shut.
Rivera grabbed Mara and pulled her behind a cabinet.
Two shots struck the wooden frame.
Mara crouched on the floor.
Jonas shoved a metal cart against the door.
“Back exit,” he said.
“There isn't one,” Rivera replied.
Mara looked around.
Then remembered the tunnel.
She pointed toward the floor.
“There is.”
They moved quickly.
Jonas lifted the loose tile.
Rivera helped Mara through first.
Shots echoed behind them.
The notebook nearly slipped from Mara's hands.
She caught it.
Then she heard Shaw shouting.
“Don't let her leave with that book!”
The urgency in his voice confirmed everything.
Mara climbed down the ladder.
Jonas followed.
Rivera came last.
They replaced the hatch.
For several seconds they remained silent.
Then Rivera whispered, “We need to separate.”
“No,” Mara said.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
She opened the notebook.
“We're all in this now.”
Rivera stared at her.
“You don't know me.”
“No.”
She turned a page.
“But your name is here.”
Rivera froze.
Mara pointed.
His full name appeared beneath a date from seven years earlier.
Beside it was a payment amount.
Rivera stared at the entry.
“I never took money.”
“I believe you.”
“Then why is my name there?”
Mara turned another page.
“Because someone recorded a payment made in your name.”
Rivera's face changed.
“To whom?”
Mara followed the handwritten note.
A bank account number had been written beside the entry.
She recognized the bank.
“So did my father.”
Jonas looked over her shoulder.
“That's not a payment account.”
“What is it?”
“An escrow account.”
Mara looked at him.
“Whose?”
Jonas didn't answer.
She turned another page.
A list of account transfers filled the sheet.
At the bottom was the name of a foundation.
The Ellison Family Trust.
Mara stared.
“My family trust.”
Jonas nodded.
“Your father created it.”
“For what?”
“To move money without putting it directly in his name.”
Mara shook her head.
“My father wasn't corrupt.”
“No.”
Jonas looked at her.
“He was building a hidden operation.”
Rivera frowned.
“Then why did he make it look like he was taking bribes?”
“Because if anyone found the ledger, they would assume exactly that.”
Mara looked down.
The deception had been deliberate.
Her father had created a trail leading toward himself.
He had made himself appear guilty so the people he was investigating would never realize he was documenting them.
But one question remained.
“If he planned all of this,” Mara said, “why didn't he tell me?”
Jonas's answer was quiet.
“Because you would have been killed.”
Mara looked at him.
“By whom?”
Jonas pointed to the notebook.
“The people whose names you just read.”
Mara turned pages rapidly.
There were judges.
Police officials.
Contractors.
A bank director.
Two prosecutors.
And one name that made her stop.
Adrian Shaw.
Next to his name was a series of dates.
The earliest was twelve years old.
The latest was yesterday.
Mara looked up.
“He's been involved all along.”
Jonas nodded.
“And he's not the highest name.”
Mara turned the page.
The final section had been written in her father's handwriting.
There were only six lines.
Mara read them silently.
Then read them again.
Her father had written:
If Mara ever finds this, the first person she must distrust is the person who claims to protect her.
The second is the person who tells her the truth too easily.
The third is the person who says I died without finishing the work.
Mara looked at Jonas.
Then Rivera.
Neither man spoke.
She continued reading.
There was one final sentence.
I did not leave the last piece of evidence in the ledger.
I left it with someone who has been beside Mara for years.
Mara's stomach dropped.
“Someone beside me.”
Rivera looked at Jonas.
Jonas looked at Mara.
She shook her head.
“No.”
She began thinking through every person who had known her father.
Her former supervisor.
Her father's old attorney.
The family accountant.
Her childhood neighbor.
Her father's secretary.
And then she remembered the person who had been beside her that morning.
The person who had driven her to court.
The person who had called her before the police stopped her.
Her closest friend, Nina.
Mara pulled out her phone.
There were seven missed calls.
All from Nina.
She opened the most recent message.
Where are you? Please call me. I need to tell you something about your father.
Mara stared at the screen.
A second message arrived.
This one was only four words.
Don't trust Jonas Reed.
Mara slowly raised her eyes.
Jonas was watching her.
He saw the expression on her face.
“What did she say?”
Mara didn't answer.
Rivera looked at the phone.
“Who is Nina?”
“My best friend.”
Jonas stepped backward.
“What is her last name?”
“Carter.”
His face changed.
Mara noticed immediately.
“You know her.”
Jonas shook his head.
“No.”
“You do.”
“No.”
Mara held up the phone.
“Then why are you afraid?”
Jonas said nothing.
Rivera stepped between them.
“Start talking.”
Jonas looked toward the tunnel entrance.
Then he whispered:
“Nina Carter died eight years ago.”
Mara stared at him.
“That isn't funny.”
“I know.”
“My friend called me this morning.”
Jonas shook his head.
“No, Mara.”
He looked at the message.
“That isn't your friend.”
A sound came from the other side of the tunnel.
Someone was approaching.
Slow footsteps.
Then Mara's phone rang.
The screen displayed Nina's name.
Nobody moved.
It rang again.
And again.
Mara finally answered.
She said nothing.
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then a woman's voice whispered:
“Mara, don't listen to either of them.”
Mara's blood ran cold.
The voice sounded exactly like Nina.
“Where are you?” Mara asked.
A pause.
“Look behind you.”
Mara turned.
Rivera and Jonas were both facing the tunnel.
At the far end, a figure stood beneath the weak emergency light.
Mara couldn't see the face.
But the figure raised one hand.
And in that hand was her father's old watch.
Click here to continue reading: PART 5: The Woman Holding the Watch Knew a Detail Mara Had Never Told Anyone, and That Made the Voice on the Phone More Dangerous
The Arrest Was Supposed to End in Minutes, Until the Woman Asked One Question That Changed Everything
Part 4 of 20
