Frank stood beneath the oak tree with his hands buried in the pockets of his coat. Robert remained beside Richard's grave, staring at the stone as though he had forgotten the rest of us were there. I could hear dry leaves scraping across the pavement behind me.
“You said Frank stole the money,” I said.
Robert nodded once.
“He moved it.”
Frank's face tightened.
“I moved some of it.”
“Some?”
Frank looked at me, and the shame in his expression was different from the defiance I had seen before. He wasn't trying to escape the accusation. He seemed almost relieved that it had finally been spoken aloud.
“I didn't keep it,” he said.
“Then where did it go?”
Frank glanced at Robert.
Robert answered for him.
“To Pierce.”
I stared at both men.
“Why?”
Frank swallowed.
“Because they had something on me.”
“What?”
“My brother.”
The answer came quietly.
Frank's younger brother had been facing a criminal investigation connected to one of Pierce Development's construction projects. Frank had believed the charges were exaggerated, but Pierce had evidence that could put his brother in prison.
“They told me they could make the case disappear,” Frank said. “All I had to do was give them information about Richard's accounts.”
I remembered his confession about Michael.
“You used my son.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Michael trusted me.”
The admission hurt more than I expected.
Frank looked down.
“I told him his father was hiding money from him. I showed him documents that were real but incomplete. I wanted him angry enough to give me access to the rest.”
“You manipulated him.”
“Yes.”
“You helped them.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn't kill Richard.”
“No.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
Frank looked toward Richard's grave.
“Richard found out.”
“When?”
“The afternoon before he died.”
Frank explained that Richard had summoned him to the office after discovering several transfers connected to Frank's access credentials. Richard had placed the statements on his desk and asked one question.
“Who are you working for?”
Frank had denied everything at first.
Richard hadn't argued.
He had simply placed another document in front of him.
It was evidence of the threat against Frank's brother.
“He knew,” Frank said. “He knew exactly why I'd done it.”
“And what did he say?”
Frank's voice became unsteady.
“He told me he could protect my brother.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why didn't you accept?”
“Because by then I was afraid of Pierce.”
“What happened next?”
“Richard told me to stop moving money.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did another transfer happen?”
Frank looked at Robert.
“Because I wasn't the only one with access.”
Robert finally spoke.
“The credentials had been duplicated.”
I looked at him.
“By whom?”
“We still don't know.”
“Then why did you tell me Frank stole the money?”
“Because the transfers carried his credentials.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“No.”
Frank rubbed his forehead.
“I knew someone else was using them.”
“When?”
“The night Richard died.”
My heart tightened.
“How?”
“Richard called me.”
“What did he say?”
“He said someone had entered his house.”
The cemetery seemed suddenly colder.
“Did he tell you who?”
“No.”
“Did you go there?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“You were at my house that night?”
“Outside.”
“Why didn't you come in?”
“Because Richard told me not to.”
“What did you see?”
Frank looked toward the road.
“A car.”
“What kind?”
“Black sedan.”
“Whose?”
“I couldn't see the plate.”
“Who was inside?”
“One person.”
“Did you see the driver?”
Frank hesitated.
“Yes.”
My pulse quickened.
“Who?”
“I thought it was Robert.”
Robert looked sharply at him.
“You thought?”
“It was dark.”
“I wasn't there.”
“I know that now.”
“Then who was it?”
Frank shook his head.
“I couldn't identify the face.”
Robert stepped closer.
“Frank, tell her everything.”
Frank stared at him.
“You first.”
Robert's expression hardened.
For several seconds they stood in silence.
Then Robert said, “I lied to Richard.”
My stomach dropped.
“About what?”
“About Pierce.”
“You worked for them.”
“Yes.”
“Did you steal the money?”
“No.”
“Did you receive the money?”
“Yes.”
“Then what was it for?”
Robert looked at me.
“Protection.”
“For yourself?”
“For Richard.”
I didn't believe him.
He explained that years earlier, Pierce had approached him after discovering irregularities inside Richard's companies. They offered Robert a deal: cooperate with them, or they would expose financial information that could destroy Richard's business.
Robert chose cooperation.
But instead of helping Pierce take control, he secretly redirected some of their payments into accounts Richard controlled.
“That sounds noble,” I said.
“It wasn't.”
“No?”
“I was terrified.”
Robert admitted that he had taken personal payments while working both sides. He had convinced himself he could control the situation.
Then Richard discovered the truth.
“He confronted me six months ago,” Robert said.
“What did he do?”
“He gave me an ultimatum.”
“Leave?”
“Confess.”
“And you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew Pierce would retaliate.”
I looked at Frank.
“And you?”
Frank shook his head.
“I was already trapped.”
The pieces were beginning to form, but one remained impossible to ignore.
“Susan.”
Both men went silent.
“What did Susan know?”
Robert looked at Richard's grave.
“She knew everything.”
“That's why she died?”
“I don't know.”
“You met her.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night before Richard died.”
“Why?”
“She brought me the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The original record of every transfer.”
“Where is it?”
Robert's face changed.
“Gone.”
“Who took it?”
“We don't know.”
Frank stepped forward.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
Frank's voice dropped.
“Susan gave it to me.”
I stared at him.
“Where is it?”
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
“I was going to return it to Richard.”
“But he died.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it now?”
Frank looked at Robert.
“Tell her.”
Robert shook his head.
Frank reached inside his coat and pulled out a small key.
“It opens a safety box.”
My heart began pounding.
“Where?”
“At the old office.”
“What is inside?”
“The ledger.”
“And?”
Frank's eyes met mine.
“A recording.”
“What recording?”
“Richard's voice.”
The investigators immediately moved us away from the grave.
Within an hour, we were at the abandoned office building where Frank had kept the box.
The corridor smelled of dust and old paper.
Frank led us to a storage room.
He knelt beside a metal cabinet and unlocked it.
Inside was a small safe.
His hand shook as he inserted the key.
The door opened.
There was a ledger.
A flash drive.
And a sealed envelope addressed to me.
My name was written in Richard's handwriting.
I touched the envelope but didn't open it.
“What did he record?”
Frank looked at me.
“The conversation he had with the person he believed was behind everything.”
“Who?”
Frank shook his head.
“He never told me.”
“Then why give you the recording?”
“Because he knew he might not survive.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside was one page.
Maggie, if you are reading this, don't trust the person who tells you I was betrayed by one man. I was betrayed by several. But only one of them knew exactly what I was going to do before I did it.
I read the sentence again.
Then I turned the page.
There was one final line.
The person who warned Pierce about my investigation was someone you have already forgiven.
I looked at Frank.
“Who did Richard forgive?”
Frank didn't answer.
Robert looked away.
And suddenly I remembered the person who had apologized to me first.
The person I had embraced.
The person I had believed had been honest.
Michael.
Click here to continue reading: PART 18: Michael Denied Knowing Anything About Richard’s Investigation Until the Recording Exposed a Conversation He Had Hidden From Me for Years
The Night I Realized My Children Had Stopped Seeing Me as Their Mother and Started Seeing Me as Someone They Would Eventually Inherit From
Part 17 of 20
