Chapter 12 - THE ACCOUNTANT WHO REFUSED TO DIESamuel Whitmore was being treated at a private hospital under police protection.
Daniel arrived first.
Dominic followed twenty minutes later, accompanied by his attorney and two investigators.
Maya came with them.
She wanted to know why Samuel had risked his life to contact her.
A nurse led them to a private room.
Samuel was awake, although his face was pale.
When he saw Maya, he attempted to sit up.
"Your father would have been proud of you."
Maya pulled a chair beside the bed.
"Please tell me everything."
Samuel glanced toward Dominic.
"Isabella needs to be here."
Dominic frowned.
"My mother?"
"Yes. She knows something about the original agreement."
Dominic immediately called her.
Isabella arrived with a small leather handbag.
When she saw Samuel, her expression changed.
"You survived."
"Just barely."
Samuel explained that Richard had entrusted a set of documents to Dominic's father shortly before his death.
The documents contained proof that Anthony had secretly transferred ownership of several shipping companies to Raymond Cross.
But Dominic's father had refused to release them.
"He knew that exposing Anthony without protecting the people involved would start a war," Samuel explained.
Dominic looked at his mother.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Isabella opened her handbag and removed a small photograph.
It showed Dominic's father standing beside Richard Reed.
On the back was a handwritten note.
The children must never pay for our mistakes.
Isabella explained that Richard and Dominic's father had agreed to protect their families if anything happened to them.
Margaret had hidden Maya.
Isabella had hidden Dominic's father's final correspondence.
And Samuel had kept the financial records.
Together, the three had preserved enough evidence to expose Anthony.
But one important document was still missing.
The original ownership transfer.
Samuel looked at Maya.
"Your father gave it to Margaret."
"Where did she hide it?"
"I don't know."
Maya remembered the letter.
Margaret had mentioned that the truth was hidden where the family first made its promise.
The diner.
The basement.
The old wooden counter.
She thought about the small room beneath the building, which had been used as storage for decades.
"There's something else downstairs."
Daniel looked at her.
"What?"
"An old brick wall. My aunt always told me never to move the boxes in front of it."
Dominic stood.
"Let's go."
Before they left, Samuel caught Daniel's sleeve.
"Be careful. Anthony has been using Victor, but Victor isn't the one making the decisions."
Daniel frowned.
"Who is?"
Samuel looked toward the hospital window.
"Raymond Cross."
Dominic's expression changed.
"Raymond is supposed to be dead."
Samuel gave a bitter smile.
"That's what he wanted everyone to believe."
He explained that Raymond had staged his disappearance years earlier and continued operating through shell companies.
Anthony had become the public face of the conspiracy, while Raymond controlled the money and the people carrying out the threats.
Maya felt a chill.
"Then he's still out there."
Samuel nodded.
"And he's looking for you."
On their way out, Daniel received another message.
It came from Thomas.
THE DINER HAS BEEN ENTERED. SOMEONE IS IN THE BASEMENT.
Daniel looked at Maya.
She was already running toward the exit.
They reached the diner in less than twenty minutes.
The front door was open.
The basement light was on.
Daniel drew his weapon and entered first.
A man stood beside the old brick wall.
He turned.
It was Adrian Moretti.
May you like
Dominic's nephew.
And he was holding Margaret's missing notebook.
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