Chapter 3 - Someone Knew Her Name
Julian’s security chief was waiting when they returned.
Marcus Vale had spent twelve years in federal protective services before Julian hired him.
He was not easily rattled.
Tonight he was.
“No forced entry.”
Julian looked toward the hallway.
“Staff access?”
“None.”
“Camera?”
“Looped for eleven minutes.”
Abby went cold.
“How?”
Marcus looked at her, then Julian.
“Someone had administrative credentials.”
Julian’s security system had three master-level users.
Julian.
Marcus.
And Cross Meridian’s executive technology director.
Elliot Vane.
Julian called him.
No answer.
Marcus sent two men to Vane’s house.
Empty.
Phone off.
Laptop gone.
Abby stared at the dresser.
The $300,000 remained untouched.
The intruder had walked past it.
They wanted the photograph.
Or what it represented.
“Who knew about my mother?” Abby asked.
“Until today?” Julian said.
“Me. Marcus. My grandmother’s former attorney.”
“Name?”
“Lydia Shaw.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Connecticut.”
Marcus interrupted.
“Mr. Cross, there’s something else.”
The security loop had been created twenty-three minutes before Julian entered the hidden monitoring room.
Meaning whoever compromised the system knew exactly when Julian planned to test Abby.
Abby turned slowly.
“Who knew I’d be here?”
Julian didn’t answer.
“Julian.”
“My executive assistant.”
“Who else?”
“Household scheduling.”
“How many people?”
“Six, maybe seven.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Your trust test seems to have worked wonderfully.”
He deserved that too.
At 2:00 a.m., Abby finally called her father.
Thomas Mercer answered on the fourth ring.
“Abby?”
“Dad, did Mom ever work for Cross Meridian?”
Silence.
That was enough.
“Dad.”
“Where are you?”
“Answer me.”
Another silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
Abby closed her eyes.
“You knew.”
“Some.”
“She hid evidence.”
“I knew she was scared.”
“There was a trust.”
Her father said nothing.
“Dad?”
His breathing changed.
“What trust?”
“One created after Mom exposed something.”
“I don’t know about any trust.”
“Did she ever mention Margaret Cross?”
“Yes.”
“Vincent?”
The line went quiet.
Then Thomas whispered:
“Stay away from him.”
Julian heard.
Abby looked at him.
“Why?”
Her father’s voice shook.
“Because your mother believed Vincent Cross destroyed her career.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“Did he make you lose your job?”
“I could never prove it.”
“Dad, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because your mother asked me not to.”
“Why?”
“Because she thought the Cross family would come looking eventually.”
Abby looked at Julian.
“They did.”
Her father swore.
“What happened?”
She told him about the key.
The locker.
The ledger.
The recording.
Then the trust.
Thomas went silent for so long Abby thought the connection had dropped.
Finally he said:
“Your mother kept another box.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Dad.”
“I swear.”
“Think.”
“She moved things when she got sick.”
“To where?”
“She didn’t trust the house.”
Abby thought of hospital rooms.
Her mother’s old storage bin.
Boxes of clothing.
Pearl.
Then Thomas said:
“There was a blue suitcase.”
“What suitcase?”
“Your mother had it when we moved out of the old apartment.”
“Where is it?”
“I haven’t seen it in years.”
Abby remembered.
She had seen it.
After her mother died, Abby donated most of Marianne’s clothing.
One suitcase went to her brother.
Noah used it when he moved into his dorm.
She called him immediately.
He answered half asleep.
“Abby?”
“Where’s Mom’s blue suitcase?”
“What?”
“The old blue one.”
“Under my bed, I think.”
“Don’t touch it.”
“What?”
“Do not open it.”
A sound behind him.
A door.
Noah stopped talking.
“Who’s there?” Abby asked.
“I don’t know.”
Julian straightened.
“Noah, lock your door.”
A second sound.
Knocking.
Three slow taps.
Noah whispered:
“Someone’s outside.”
Julian gestured to Marcus.
Marcus was already calling campus security.
The knocking came again.
Then a man spoke.
“Noah Mercer?”
Noah didn’t answer.
“We’re here regarding a family matter.”
Abby gripped the phone.
“Don’t open it.”
The handle moved.
Locked.
Then a card slid underneath.
Noah picked it up.
“What does it say?”
His voice changed.
“Cross Family Office.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“I didn’t send anyone.”
The knocking stopped.
Footsteps disappeared.
Campus security arrived three minutes later.
The corridor was empty.
Noah found the blue suitcase.
Inside was clothing.
Old receipts.
A photograph album.
Nothing obvious.
Then he noticed the lining had been cut and resewn.
Campus police stayed while he opened it.
Inside was a flash drive.
And a sealed medical envelope.
The envelope contained Marianne’s oncology records.
Abby expected nothing unusual.
Then she saw a payment statement.
Her mother’s final experimental treatment had been funded by a private charitable grant.
Name of donor:
The Vincent Cross Health Initiative.
Julian went pale.
Abby looked at him.
“My mother spent her final year receiving treatment paid for by the man she accused of stealing millions.”
Neither of them spoke.
Then Marcus returned with worse news.
Elliot Vane, Julian’s missing technology director, had just been found.
Alive.
At an airport.
May you like
With a one-way ticket to Switzerland.
And twenty-five thousand dollars in cash.
