Chapter 6 - THE MAN INSIDE HER FATHER’S COMPANY
Robert Carter had spent thirty years beside his older brother.
He helped Thomas build Carter Biologics.
He delivered a eulogy at Thomas’s funeral.
He held Elena’s hand beside the grave and promised he would protect everything her father created.
Now Nathan Cole’s warning placed him beside Mark and Vanessa.
Rebecca called him immediately.
Robert answered on the first ring.
“Rebecca?”
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Don’t move.”
Silence.
“What happened?”
“The police need to talk to you.”
Another pause.
“About Elena?”
“About Dad.”
Robert exhaled slowly.
“I wondered when this would happen.”
Rebecca stared at Elena.
“What does that mean?”
“Come to my house.”
“No.”
“Rebecca—”
“Tell me now.”
Robert lowered his voice.
“Thomas knew Mark was stealing.”
“We know.”
“He knew Vanessa helped.”
“We know that too.”
“He suspected someone on the board was protecting them.”
“Was it you?”
“No.”
“Then why is your name on Nathan Cole’s list?”
“Because I was helping Nathan.”
Detective Brooks held out her hand for Rebecca’s phone.
She switched to speaker.
“This is Detective Maya Brooks.”
Robert went silent.
“Mr. Carter, do not destroy or move anything.”
“I haven’t.”
“Why didn’t you come forward?”
“Because Nathan told me not to trust police.”
“Why?”
“He believed Mark had someone inside law enforcement.”
Brooks’s expression sharpened.
“Who?”
“He never told me.”
“What evidence do you have?”
Robert hesitated.
“A drive.”
Elena sat straighter.
“What drive?”
Thomas had given Robert an encrypted hard drive three days before he died.
He told Robert that if anything happened, the drive should go to Elena.
“Then why didn’t you give it to me?” Elena demanded.
“Because Mark was always beside you.”
“That was not your decision.”
“You were grieving.”
“You decided to leave me with the man who helped kill my father?”
Robert’s voice broke.
“I didn’t know that then.”
“Where is the drive?”
“In a bank vault.”
Detective Brooks ordered officers to Robert’s house.
He was brought to the hospital voluntarily.
At the bank, police retrieved a black encrypted drive stored under Thomas Carter’s name.
Cybercrime specialists began opening it.
Meanwhile, the search for Vanessa intensified.
Her credit cards were inactive.
Her phone had been discarded.
Her passport remained at home.
She had planned for disappearance.
Carol entered Elena’s room that afternoon.
“You need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Your son doesn’t care.”
Elena almost argued.
Then she accepted the soup.
Rebecca sat beside the window reading corporate documents.
“What happens if Mark controls nothing now?”
Elena asked.
“He’s arrested.”
“That doesn’t automatically remove his rights under the trust.”
Rebecca looked concerned.
“We need an emergency court order.”
“My father’s shares cannot end up controlled by him.”
“They won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Dad included one more clause.”
Rebecca showed her.
The trust allowed Elena to appoint an independent trustee at any time while mentally competent.
The psychiatric plan made sense again.
If Mark had Elena declared incompetent before she changed the trustee, he could gain temporary control.
“Who should I appoint?”
Rebecca smiled faintly.
“Anyone except your husband.”
Elena looked toward Carol.
The nurse laughed.
“Absolutely not.”
For the first time that day, Elena smiled.
She appointed a respected fiduciary attorney named Sarah Mitchell.
The papers were signed in front of two hospital witnesses and notarized.
Mark’s path to the voting shares closed at 4:18 p.m.
At 4:23, someone attempted to log into Elena’s trust account remotely using Mark’s credentials.
The attempt failed.
Five minutes later, Vanessa called Elena.
Private number.
Detective Brooks traced it while Elena answered.
“Hello?”
Vanessa’s voice was calm.
“You think you won.”
Elena looked at Brooks.
“Where are you?”
“You changed the trustee.”
“How do you know that?”
Vanessa laughed softly.
“There are still people who understand who really owns Carter.”
“My father owned Carter.”
“Your father was sentimental.”
“He believed science should have principles.”
“And you don’t?”
“I believe everything has a price.”
Elena’s voice turned cold.
“Did my father have one?”
Silence.
“You were there when he died.”
“I was.”
“You drugged him.”
“He was supposed to sleep.”
“You left him without medical help.”
“He was supposed to wake up.”
Elena felt tears rise.
She refused to let Vanessa hear them.
“What happened to Nathan?”
Vanessa said nothing.
“Is he dead?”
A pause.
“No.”
Detective Brooks looked sharply at Elena.
Elena continued.
“Where is he?”
“You think I’m stupid?”
“I think you’re desperate.”
Vanessa laughed.
“You sound like Thomas.”
“Good.”
“That arrogance killed him.”
Elena’s grip tightened.
“No.”
“Your greed killed him.”
The line became silent.
Then Vanessa whispered.
“You should ask your uncle why Thomas really changed the trust.”
The call ended.
Police traced it to a highway rest area in Maryland.
Vanessa was already gone when officers arrived.
But a surveillance camera captured the car she entered.
It belonged to someone on the Carter Biologics board.
Dr. Samuel Pierce.
Chief scientific officer.
The same man currently overseeing the fetal-cell patent portfolio Hawthorne Medical wanted to acquire.
The conspiracy widened.
That evening, Thomas Carter’s encrypted hard drive opened.
It contained financial records.
Board emails.
Photographs.
Audio files.
And one video labeled:
FOR ELENA — ONLY IF I FAILED.
Rebecca reached for the mouse.
Elena stopped her.
“I need to watch it alone.”
Rebecca nodded.
Everyone left except Carol, who remained just outside the door.
Elena pressed play.
Her father appeared on the screen.
Thomas Carter looked tired.
But alive.
“Elena,” he began.
“If you are watching this, then I probably did not get the chance to apologize.”
Elena covered her mouth.
“I was too harsh about Mark.”
“Not because I was wrong.”
“Because I made being right more important than keeping you close.”
Tears blurred Elena’s vision.
Thomas continued.
“There is something you need to know about Carter Biologics.”
“It is not merely a company.”
“Someone has been trying to acquire one specific research program.”
“They are willing to steal for it.”
“They may be willing to kill for it.”
Elena leaned toward the screen.
“The program is called Aurora.”
“Mark believes Aurora is worth hundreds of millions.”
“He is wrong.”
Her father paused.
“It is worth billions.”
Then Thomas said the sentence that changed everything.
May you like
“And Elena, the person who controls Aurora is not me.”
“It is you.”
