Chapter 16 - The House That Wasn't Safe|
Margaret Ellis was moved to a secure location before nightfall.
Investigators documented the vehicle outside her home and confirmed that the man had worked for a security company connected to Crown Harbor. He claimed he was conducting a routine welfare check.
No one believed him.
Paige spent the evening with Natalie and the children, trying to maintain a sense of normalcy while adults discussed security arrangements in the next room.
Owen noticed.
“Are we in trouble?”
Paige sat beside him on the couch.
“No. Some adults are dealing with a serious problem, and we're making sure everyone stays safe.”
“Is it because Dad did something bad?”
She considered how much to tell him.
“Your father made mistakes. Other people may have done worse things. The adults are trying to find out what happened.”
Owen looked toward the hallway.
“Will Dad get arrested?”
“I don't know.”
He nodded, disappointed but not surprised.
“Can I still love him?”
Paige's heart tightened.
“Yes. You don't have to choose between loving your father and telling the truth about what happened.”
Owen leaned against her shoulder.
Across the room, Lucy was drawing a picture of their family. She had drawn Paige and the children in a small house with yellow windows. Marcus stood outside, separated from them by a blue line.
Paige didn't ask what the line meant.
That night, Marcus called to ask whether the children were all right.
“They're safe.”
“Can I talk to them?”
“Tomorrow, after school.”
He accepted the answer.
Then he said, “I've arranged for a security consultant to review the apartment and Natalie's building.”
“Who hired the consultant?”
“An independent firm recommended by Rachel.”
“Have they been vetted?”
“Yes. Rachel approved the arrangement.”
“Good.”
He paused.
“Paige, I want you to know that if you need anything—”
“I'll ask.”
He stopped.
“Right.”
For a moment, she almost felt sorry for him. He was trying to learn a language he had never needed before: the language of helping without controlling.
But sympathy could not replace accountability.
The next morning, Rachel called with an urgent update.
Investigators had recovered an encrypted archive from Arthur Bell's former law firm. The archive contained the missing Harbor file, but several sections were password-protected.
A forensic specialist was working on it.
Meanwhile, Daniel had traced a payment from Crown Harbor to a private security company that had employed the man seen outside Margaret's house.
The company's director had received a series of payments from an account controlled by a trust established in the name of Evelyn Hale.
“Someone is using your mother's identity,” Daniel told Marcus.
Marcus's expression hardened.
“Who has access to her old records?”
“The former law firm, the foundation, and anyone who obtained the original estate documents.”
Marcus thought of Peter Hale.
“Could my uncle have access?”
“Possibly. But we don't have evidence that he was involved.”
That afternoon, Peter called again.
“I heard someone searched Arthur's files,” he said.
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
“How?”
“I still know people at the firm.”
“Then you know the investigation is legitimate.”
“Legitimate or not, you need to stop before you destroy what's left of your father's company.”
“Was the company more important than the people who were harmed?”
Peter's voice hardened.
“You don't understand the obligations your father carried.”
“Then explain them.”
“I can't.”
“Or you won't?”
Silence.
Then Peter said, “You should ask your mother what she was protecting.”
Marcus looked at Paige.
“My mother is dead.”
“Not everything she left behind is.”
Peter ended the call.
Paige stared at Marcus.
“Your uncle knows more than he's saying.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think he's involved?”
“I don't know.”
“Then don't decide he's guilty because you're angry.”
Marcus nodded.
“I won't.”
That evening, the forensic specialist recovered part of the Harbor archive.
The first file contained a payment ledger.
The second contained a recording.
The third was a scanned letter signed by Richard Hale, dated three weeks before his death.
Its final paragraph read:
If the Lantern structure is exposed, the person who authorized the final transfers must be protected until the family understands what was done. The committee was never intended to operate without oversight. I trusted the wrong person, and I have waited too long to correct it.
The letter did not name that person.
May you like
But the signature beneath the closing was not Richard's.
It was Marcus's.
