Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO KNEW HER FATHER|
Aldwell surrendered his phone without another word.
The latest message contained no name, only a photograph of the safe house’s front gate and a timestamp from eleven minutes earlier.
Beneath it were five words.
Keep the girl away from Anchor House.
Dominic read the message twice.
“Who sent this?”
“I don’t know,” Aldwell replied.
“You expect me to believe an anonymous sender has your personal number and knows our location, but you have no idea who it is?”
“I’ve received warnings before. Some are useful.”
“And this one?”
Aldwell glanced at Lena.
“I thought it was a trap.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because I wanted to determine who was sending them.”
Dominic handed the phone to his security team.
“Until I understand what’s happening, you’re off internal communications.”
Aldwell’s jaw tightened.
“Dominic, I’ve served your family for fifteen years.”
“That’s why you’re still standing here explaining yourself.”
Aldwell left under escort.
Lena watched him disappear down the corridor.
“You don’t trust him.”
“I trust what he’s proven. Tonight, he proved that he has something to hide.”
“Those aren’t the same thing.”
“No,” Dominic agreed. “They aren’t.”
He brought her to a secure office where the original shipping records were already being assembled. Several files were missing. Others had been scanned, altered, or marked for destruction.
Lena worked through the documents for nearly two hours. She recognized her father’s handwriting on a delivery manifest dated three days before his death.
The cargo had been listed as industrial equipment.
The declared weight was wrong.
The destination company did not exist.
But the signature authorizing the transfer belonged to Dominic Reeve.
Lena stared at it.
“This is the document they used to accuse my father of theft.”
Dominic stood behind her.
“I signed hundreds of shipping authorizations that year.”
“Did you sign this one?”
“I don’t remember.”
“That’s convenient.”
He leaned closer to examine the page.
The signature was convincing, but the final letter of his surname curved in the wrong direction.
“It's a forgery,” he said.
“How can you tell?”
“My father taught me to sign my name the same way he signed his. The last stroke has never looked like that.”
Lena turned another page.
A handwritten note was tucked inside the folder.
D.V. refuses. Move the shipment without approval. M.S. will cover the difference.
The initials belonged to David Voss and Marcus Solin.
Someone had written the note in blue ink. The date matched the final week of her father’s life.
“Your father knew about the shipment,” Dominic said.
“He knew something was wrong. That doesn’t mean he knew everything.”
“Who was M.S.?”
“Marcus Solin.”
“Then Solin was involved before the killings.”
Lena traced the letters with her finger.
“There’s another name.”
At the bottom of the note, nearly hidden beneath a crease, was a set of initials: E.S.
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Elias Shaw.”
“Who is he?”
“My father’s attorney. He handled the family trusts, corporate structures, and the legal arrangements after Adrian died.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Dominic reached for his phone.
“Manhattan.”
Lena stood.
“Then we need to speak to him.”
“Not tonight.”
“Every hour we wait gives someone time to destroy evidence.”
“And every hour we rush into an unknown location gives Solin another opportunity to kill you.”
She faced him.
“I’m not a child.”
“No. You’re a woman who walked into a room full of armed men and announced she could dismantle an empire. That makes you brave, reckless, or both.”
“Which do you prefer?”
“Alive.”
For the first time, the answer sounded personal.
Lena looked away before he could see that she had noticed.
A secure phone rang on the desk.
Dominic answered.
A woman’s voice came through, breathless and frightened.
“Mr. Reeve, my name is Sophie Bell. You don’t know me, but I knew David Voss.”
Lena grabbed the edge of the desk.
“Sophie?”
Silence.
Then the woman whispered, “Lena? Is that really you?”
Lena closed her eyes.
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you. They’re watching me.”
“Who?”
“The people who took my daughter.”
A pause followed.
May you like
Then Sophie spoke the words that shattered Lena’s remaining certainty.
“Your brother didn’t die because he discovered the money transfers. He died because he tried to save Dominic’s brother.”
