Chapter 8 - THE PERFECT SCAPEGOAT
Julian read the incorporation documents three times.
His signature appeared on every page.
The signature was convincing.
It was also fake.
“I was nineteen when this company was created.”
Richard looked sick.
“You were studying in Boston.”
“I didn’t sign this.”
Elena leaned closer.
“Victoria did.”
Julian rubbed his face.
“My own mother set me up?”
Richard walked toward the window.
“At first, she may have created the company simply to hide ownership.”
“And later?”
Richard looked at his son.
“She kept it because you were useful.”
The words hurt Julian more than he wanted anyone to see.
Elena understood that expression.
She had spent years realizing that the people who claimed to love you could also decide you were disposable.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number again.
This time Julian answered.
“Who is this?”
A man laughed softly.
Then he spoke.
“Elena knows where the rest of Samuel’s evidence is.”
Elena stiffened.
Julian put the call on speaker.
“I don’t.”
The man ignored Julian.
“Elena.”
She recognized the voice from old court recordings.
Marcus Vale.
“What do you want?”
“The key.”
“You mean the key we already used?”
“The second key.”
Elena frowned.
“I don’t have another key.”
Vale laughed.
“Your mother always was clever.”
The call ended.
Julian looked at Elena.
“Second key?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
Richard stared at the photograph of Isabel.
Then his expression changed.
“Her necklace.”
Elena looked at him.
“What necklace?”
“Your mother always wore a silver pendant.”
Elena’s heart skipped.
She reached beneath her blouse.
A small silver pendant hung against her chest.
“My mother gave it to me when I turned eighteen.”
Richard approached.
“May I?”
Elena removed it.
The pendant looked ordinary.
Julian examined the clasp.
“Wait.”
He twisted the decorative base.
A tiny metal piece slid free.
A key.
Elena stared at it.
“My mother hid this for ten years.”
Richard looked toward the vault.
“Samuel must have had another storage location.”
Julian’s phone suddenly rang.
The estate gatehouse.
He answered.
His expression hardened.
“What?”
Elena watched him.
“When?”
He disconnected.
“My mother just returned.”
Richard frowned.
“Why?”
“She didn’t come alone.”
“Vale?”
Julian shook his head.
“Federal agents.”
Elena felt the blood drain from her face.
Minutes later, three black SUVs entered the property.
Victoria stepped from the first vehicle.
Behind her came investigators wearing dark jackets.
Victoria walked up the front steps as though she owned the world again.
She looked directly at Julian.
Then she pointed toward him.
“That’s the man you’re looking for.”
One of the agents approached.
“Julian Harrington?”
“Yes.”
“We have a warrant to search the property and seize financial records related to Mercer Crown Investments.”
Victoria smiled.
Elena understood instantly.
Victoria wasn’t running anymore.
May you like
She had decided to attack first.
And she had just handed her own son to federal investigators.
