Chapter 7 - One of My Sisters Had Been Feeding the Enemy Everything About Me
We returned to the Whitmore estate under heavy security.
Nobody was allowed to leave.
My three sisters sat in the library.
Madison was angry.
Lauren was crying.
Emily looked terrified.
My father stood by the fireplace.
Rebecca remained silent.
Dominic placed the original ledger on the table.
“We know someone inside this family has been communicating with the Mercer organization.”
Madison stood.
“You think one of us is a traitor?”
“We know.”
Lauren shook her head.
“That is insane.”
Emily whispered:
“I would never hurt Claire.”
I looked at her.
For some reason, I believed her.
Madison scoffed.
“This is ridiculous. Claire walks into the company after nine years of being irrelevant and suddenly everyone assumes she's the center of the universe.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“She is the legal holder of twenty-three percent.”
Madison froze.
“You knew?”
“No.”
My father looked at her.
“Did you?”
She didn't answer.
Dominic noticed.
“Madison.”
She crossed her arms.
“I found out recently.”
“How?”
“My father told me.”
Charles frowned.
“I did not.”
Madison looked at him.
Then away.
That was enough to make everyone suspicious.
She finally said:
“I saw the documents in your office.”
My father shook his head.
“They weren't there.”
“Then someone put them there.”
Dominic asked:
“Who has access to your father's office?”
“Rebecca.”
“His assistant.”
“His CFO.”
“Security.”
“Claire.”
I looked at him.
“I don't have access anymore.”
“Exactly.”
We examined phone records.
Madison had contacted a number associated with Mercer Holdings.
Lauren had exchanged emails with a charity consultant linked to them.
Emily had no suspicious contacts.
Madison became the primary suspect.
She broke down.
“I didn't know what they wanted.”
“What did you give them?”
“Nothing important.”
“What did you give them?”
She cried.
“My sister's schedule.”
My stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“Because they threatened Dad.”
My father closed his eyes.
“What did they say?”
“That if I didn't cooperate, they'd destroy the company.”
Dominic's voice was quiet.
“Did they hurt anyone?”
“No.”
“Did you meet Elliot?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“A hotel.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“Did he give you anything?”
“A folder.”
“What was in it?”
Madison looked at me.
“Pictures of Claire.”
My blood went cold.
“How many?”
“Dozens.”
Dominic's face darkened.
“What kind of pictures?”
“Her leaving work. Her apartment. The warehouse.”
I swallowed.
They had been watching me for months.
Madison continued crying.
“I thought they wanted leverage.”
“What else?”
“Nothing.”
Dominic looked at the others.
“Then she isn't the person we're looking for.”
Madison stared.
“What?”
“You were manipulated.”
She shook her head.
“I gave them information.”
“You gave them information,” Dominic said.
“But someone gave them access.”
My father's assistant?
Gerald Pike?
Rebecca?
I suddenly remembered something.
“Wait.”
Everyone looked at me.
“The hospital.”
“What hospital?” Dominic asked.
“My mother’s records.”
“I accessed them last week.”
“What did you find?”
“A medical authorization request.”
“Who requested it?”
“I don't know.”
“Show me.”
I pulled up the email.
It had been sent from an internal Whitmore account.
The name attached was Emily.
Everyone turned.
Emily burst into tears.
“I didn't send that.”
I looked at her.
“Someone used your credentials.”
Dominic asked:
“Where were you that day?”
“College.”
“Could someone access your laptop?”
“My roommate.”
“What is her name?”
Emily answered.
“Rachel.”
Dominic made a call.
Five minutes later, his security team had a match.
Rachel's brother worked for Mercer Holdings.
I stared at Emily.
“You weren't involved.”
“No.”
“I'm sorry.”
She grabbed my hand.
“I was always sorry.”
“For what?”
“For how they treated you.”
I didn't know what to say.
She cried.
“I knew Dad favored us.”
“You were children.”
“I wasn't a child at twenty-five.”
I looked away.
She whispered:
“I should have defended you.”
That hurt because it was true.
Dominic placed a file in front of us.
“We found another payment.”
This one wasn't from Mercer Holdings.
It was from a private account connected to Rebecca.
She stared at it.
“I can explain.”
My father looked at her.
“What did you do?”
“I met Elliot once.”
“Why?”
“He said he could stop the attacks.”
“You trusted him?”
“No.”
She began crying.
“He threatened Claire.”
I looked at her.
“What did he want?”
“Your shares.”
Rebecca had been trying to negotiate quietly.
She had promised to convince me to sell.
But she hadn't betrayed Anne.
She had only panicked.
Which left one person.
Gerald Pike.
But Gerald was gone.
Dominic searched the network.
Then found something.
A warehouse rental under an alias.
Baltimore.
The lease was signed electronically using my father's credentials.
We went that night.
The warehouse was empty.
Almost.
A single desk.
A laptop.
And a wall covered with photographs.
My face was everywhere.
Me at the restaurant.
Me at the warehouse.
Me leaving my apartment.
Me walking with Dominic.
Then one photograph stopped me.
My mother.
Standing beside Gerald Pike.
I turned.
Dominic was already looking at it.
“This was taken after your mother died.”
I stared.
“No.”
“The date is clear.”
“How?”
“Gerald survived her.”
I stepped closer.
Behind them stood someone else.
A woman.
I recognized her immediately.
Rebecca.
My stepmother.
The photograph had been taken fourteen years ago.
But Rebecca had told me she'd never met Gerald privately.
I felt betrayed all over again.
Dominic spoke carefully.
“Claire.”
I turned.
“Ask her.”
We returned home.
Rebecca was waiting.
I placed the photograph on the table.
Her face changed.
“I can explain.”
“Then do.”
“I met Gerald after Anne died.”
“Why?”
“He told me there was another threat.”
“Who?”
“Someone inside the family.”
“Who?”
She looked at Charles.
Then me.
“You.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He said Anne had left Claire enough control to destroy everyone.”
Dominic's voice turned cold.
“That was a lie.”
“I know that now.”
“Why believe him?”
“Because Charles did.”
I looked at my father.
“Did you?”
He shook his head.
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
My father walked to the desk.
He pulled out a letter.
My mother's handwriting.
Claire is not the danger.
Claire is the reason they are afraid.
He handed it to me.
I read it twice.
Then I understood.
They had never feared my ambition.
They feared the fact that my mother had trained me without my knowing it.
Every skill.
Every number.
Every problem I'd solved.
She had left me pieces of herself.
And if I ever put them together, I could expose the entire network.
Dominic looked at the laptop.
“I found something.”
A file was open.
An account transfer.
A payment scheduled for tomorrow.
Recipient:
Claire Whitmore.
Amount:
$40,000.
Description:
DINNER.
I stared.
“The dinner tonight.”
Dominic nodded.
“The $40,000 wasn't just a business expense.”
“What was it?”
“A payment.”
“To whom?”
The file loaded.
A hidden beneficiary.
Rebecca.
She looked horrified.
“I didn't ask for that.”
“Then someone wanted it to look like you did.”
Suddenly the lights went out again.
But this time, I wasn't afraid.
I knew the pattern.
Someone wanted confusion.
Someone wanted everyone looking at the wrong person.
I reached for the laptop.
A final message appeared.
YOU KEEP LOOKING FOR THE TRAITOR.
THE TRAITOR HAS BEEN IN THE ROOM SINCE THE FIRST DINNER.
I looked around.
At my father.
At Rebecca.
At my sisters.
Then at Dominic.
And finally, at the open doorway.
Someone was standing there.
Martha Doyle.
May you like
Our housekeeper.
The woman who had invited me to the original dinner.
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