Chapter 18 - The Guest Cottage
Marcus and security reached the cottage before I did.
The door was open.
A laptop sat on the kitchen table.
Coffee was still warm.
Someone had left minutes earlier.
The security cameras had been disabled.
Not the visible system.
The encrypted backups.
Whoever entered knew the emergency architecture.
Only three people besides me had ever received that information.
Marcus.
Julian.
And the original security engineer.
His name was Owen Price.
I had not spoken to Owen in four years.
Marcus found him within an hour.
Or rather, he found his obituary.
Owen had died eighteen months earlier.
So someone had obtained his credentials.
The laptop contained one active session.
Emily’s old financial identity.
The user had transferred six million dollars that morning.
Destination unknown.
Then I noticed a photograph on the cottage wall.
Not ours.
Someone had pinned it there.
Emily.
Julian.
Victoria.
And a fourth person.
A woman in her thirties.
Dark hair.
Thin face.
I recognized her.
Laura Simmons.
But the photograph was fifteen years old.
Long before she supposedly met Isabella.
Ruiz examined it.
“Laura lied.”
“She said Isabella’s network recruited her recently.”
“She knew them for years.”
We found Laura at her protected hotel.
She tried to leave when Ruiz entered.
Agents stopped her.
Under questioning, the truth changed again.
Laura had worked as a private nurse for Victoria’s family.
She knew Emily.
She knew Julian.
And after Emily began suspecting fraud, Laura helped Julian access medical information.
“Why?”
Laura cried.
“Money.”
“You helped him make Emily look unstable?”
“Yes.”
“Did you help Isabella do the same to Maya?”
“Yes.”
I had to leave the room.
Ruiz continued without me.
An hour later, she came out.
“There’s another person.”
“Who?”
“Laura says Julian did not create the original plan.”
I laughed bitterly.
“How many layers does this have?”
“One more.”
“Who?”
She looked toward Victoria, who had arrived with Rebecca.
Laura pointed through the glass.
“Her.”
Victoria froze.
“No.”
Laura stood.
“You knew.”
“I knew nothing.”
“You paid us.”
“My accounts were controlled by Julian.”
“Not then.”
Victoria turned pale.
Laura’s voice shook.
“After Emily found the missing money, Victoria asked us to keep her quiet.”
I stared at my former mother-in-law.
“Is that true?”
Victoria began crying.
“I wanted to protect her.”
“From what?”
“Herself.”
The phrase made me sick.
Same language.
Same excuse.
Victoria admitted the first part.
Emily had become frantic after discovering the theft.
Victoria believed exposing Julian would destroy the family foundation.
So she asked Laura to persuade Emily to delay the audit.
She authorized medication for anxiety.
She signed documents Julian later abused.
“But I never wanted her dead.”
“Did you know about the truck?”
“No.”
“Did you know he stole after she died?”
“No.”
“Did you help Isabella?”
“No.”
Laura suddenly shouted.
“She met Isabella first.”
We all turned.
Victoria’s face went blank.
Laura continued.
“Victoria introduced Isabella to Julian.”
Silence.
“When?” I asked.
Laura answered.
“Six years ago.”
May you like
One year before Emily died.
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