Mara placed the phone on the table.
Nobody touched it.
She looked at Eleanor.
“Explain.”
Her mother wiped her face.
“I will.”
“You said Dad had to disappear.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because they were going to kill him.”
Mara shook her head.
“That isn't what the recording sounded like.”
“It was edited.”
Jonathan stepped forward.
Mara turned on him.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“You suspected my mother's voice had been recorded?”
“I knew someone had manipulated the file.”
Thomas reached for the phone.
“Play it again.”
Mara did.
The recording began with Eleanor.
“Thomas has to disappear.”
Then Stephen.
“If he stays, everyone goes down.”
Then Jonathan.
“I can make the paperwork convincing.”
The recording ended.
Thomas frowned.
“That's not complete.”
Mara looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I remember the conversation.”
He looked at Eleanor.
“You said something after that.”
Eleanor nodded.
“They cut it.”
“What did you say?”
“I said, ‘He disappears only until the people behind this are exposed.’”
Mara stared at her.
The meaning changed completely.
“You were trying to save him.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you keep lying?”
“Because every person who knew the truth became a target.”
Mara looked at Jonathan.
“You knew my father was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“I made a promise.”
“To my father.”
“Yes.”
Mara stood.
“You all decided what I was allowed to know.”
Thomas didn't defend himself.
That made her angrier.
“You left me to mourn you.”
“I know.”
“I watched Mom break apart.”
“I know.”
“I thought she was dying of grief.”
Eleanor looked down.
Thomas's voice cracked.
“I thought staying away was the price of keeping you alive.”
Mara looked toward the black ledger.
“What does that book prove?”
Thomas opened it.
Every page contained names, dates and amounts.
At the back was a list of properties.
The Bennett house was there.
So was the farmhouse.
So were several businesses.
Mara recognized another name.
Patricia Vale's company.
“That's the company that claimed it bought the house.”
Thomas nodded.
“It was created to seize properties connected to the investigation.”
Mara turned a page.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Stephen Cross.
But beneath it were payments to another person.
Mara's eyes widened.
“Daniel.”
Daniel stepped closer.
His face was pale.
The ledger listed his name beside several transfers.
He stared at the page.
“I never received that.”
Thomas nodded.
“I know.”
Mara looked between them.
“Then why is your name there?”
Daniel swallowed.
“My brother used my identity.”
Stephen had opened accounts under Daniel's name.
The money had moved through them.
Mara suddenly understood why Daniel had been so desperate to help Eleanor.
He had been trying to clear himself.
“You knew Stephen was using you?”
“Not at first.”
“When did you find out?”
“Two years ago.”
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Because the first officer I spoke to already knew my brother.”
Thomas closed the ledger.
“We have enough to expose them.”
Jonathan shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Thomas looked at him.
“What?”
“The ledger proves the financial operation. It doesn't prove who ordered the falsified death.”
Mara looked at the memory card.
“Then what does?”
Jonathan reached into his coat.
He placed an old photograph on the table.
It showed Thomas six years earlier, standing outside the hospital.
Beside him was Stephen.
And beside Stephen was a police captain.
Mara recognized the captain.
He had attended her father's funeral.
Thomas said quietly, “He's the reason I stayed hidden.”
Mara stared at the photograph.
“Is he still alive?”
Jonathan nodded.
“He's now the head of the department.”
A noise came from outside.
A vehicle door slammed.
Thomas looked toward the window.
Then someone shouted from the darkness.
“Eleanor!”
Her mother froze.
It was Stephen.
But he wasn't alone.
Another voice followed.
“Bring out the ledger.”
Mara looked at Thomas.
“What do we do?”
Thomas closed the notebook.
“We stop running.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 12: Thomas Chose to Face the Men Outside, but Mara Discovered the Ledger Contained One Final Entry No One Had Expected
The Key Turned in the Lock, and the Woman Behind the Door Knew Exactly Who Had Betrayed Her
Part 11 of 20
