Chapter 3 - The Black Ledger
The key fit a storage locker at a private facility on the outskirts of Chicago.
Grace stood outside the building with Nora and Julian.
She was still trying to understand why her mother had warned her about Miles before they had even met.
“What if we shouldn't open it?” Nora asked.
Julian looked at Grace.
“Then we leave.”
Grace held up the key.
“No.”
She pushed it into the lock.
The metal door opened.
Inside was a single black leather case.
No clothes.
No furniture.
No personal objects.
Just the case.
Grace reached for it.
Julian stopped her.
“Wait.”
He checked the room first.
Nothing.
Finally, he nodded.
Grace opened the case.
Inside was a ledger.
Black.
Heavy.
Old.
She turned the first page.
Names.
Dates.
Transfers.
Hotel subsidiaries.
Offshore accounts.
Political donations.
Private investments.
Her mother's initials appeared on nearly every page.
“What am I looking at?” Grace whispered.
Julian's face hardened.
“Evidence.”
“Of what?”
“Fraud.”
Nora stepped closer.
“Whose?”
Julian stared at the pages.
“Almost everyone's.”
Grace turned another page.
Then another.
Some entries had been crossed out.
Others were marked with a red symbol.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Miles Whitmore.
Grace froze.
“Your brother?”
Julian nodded.
“Why is his name here?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie.”
“I'm not.”
Grace looked deeper into the ledger.
Miles wasn't listed as the person receiving most of the money.
He was listed as an intermediary.
Someone who moved funds.
Someone who delivered documents.
Someone who signed off on transfers that should never have existed.
Her hands trembled.
“He told me he wasn't stealing.”
“He may not have been.”
“What do you mean?”
Julian leaned against the wall.
“Someone inside this family has been laundering money through the hotel chain for years.”
Grace looked at him.
“And Miles?”
“Miles discovered it.”
“Then why did he participate?”
“Because he thought cooperating would let him identify the person responsible.”
Nora frowned.
“That doesn't explain the cheating.”
Julian looked uncomfortable.
“It doesn't.”
Grace closed the ledger.
“Then don't make excuses for him.”
“I am not.”
“Good.”
Suddenly Grace heard footsteps outside.
Julian's head snapped toward the hallway.
“Someone's here.”
They killed the lights.
The footsteps stopped outside.
A hand touched the locker door.
Grace held her breath.
The handle moved.
Then Julian stepped forward and pulled the door open.
A security guard stood there.
“Everything all right?”
Julian smiled.
“Wrong locker.”
The guard stared at them.
Then walked away.
Nobody spoke until the footsteps disappeared.
Grace looked at the ledger.
“I need to know what my mother knew.”
Julian nodded.
“There may be one person left who can tell us.”
“Who?”
“Eleanor Whitmore.”
Miles's mother.
Grace had always liked Eleanor.
That made the thought more frightening.
They drove to the Whitmore estate.
Eleanor greeted Grace personally.
When she saw the ledger in Grace's hands, her face lost all color.
“You found it.”
Grace stared.
“You knew?”
Eleanor closed the door behind them.
“Your mother gave it to me.”
Grace's anger disappeared beneath shock.
“You knew my mother?”
“She was my closest friend.”
“And then she died.”
Eleanor looked down.
“She discovered the accounts.”
“Who killed her?”
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.
“We don't know.”
Grace stepped closer.
“Someone does.”
Eleanor nodded.
“The person who ordered the cover-up is still alive.”
“Who?”
Eleanor shook her head.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
“Meet me tomorrow.”
She handed Grace a folded address.
Then she whispered, “And don't tell Miles.”
Grace froze.
“You don't trust your own son?”
Eleanor looked toward the hallway.
“I trust the boy he used to be.”
That answer broke something open inside Grace.
The next morning, Eleanor never arrived.
Grace received a call from the hospital.
She had been injured in a hit-and-run.
Julian arrived minutes later.
Miles arrived after him.
The moment Grace saw him, every emotion she had buried returned.
He approached carefully.
“Are you okay?”
“I am.”
“My mother?”
“Alive.”
He exhaled.
Grace watched him.
“You knew.”
“Knew what?”
“The ledger.”
His face changed.
“Where did you find it?”
“You knew.”
“I knew my mother had one.”
“And you never told me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Grace laughed.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Miles looked at her.
“Grace, listen to me.”
“No.”
“Someone is trying to destroy my family.”
“Your family destroyed itself.”
His jaw tightened.
“I cheated on you. That was wrong.”
“Wrong isn't enough.”
“I know.”
“Then tell me everything.”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“The night you came to the penthouse, I was about to tell you.”
“You were going to tell me you were cheating?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I was going to tell you that my father has been moving money through shell companies.”
Grace stared.
“Miles…”
“And I was going to ask you to leave.”
“Leave?”
“For your safety.”
She shook her head.
“You don't get to rewrite what happened.”
“I know.”
“Then why didn't you?”
He looked exhausted.
“Because I was afraid you'd hate me.”
Grace's eyes burned.
“You already gave me reasons.”
Miles stepped closer.
“There is one thing I never lied about.”
“What?”
“I loved you.”
Grace almost believed him.
That was the dangerous part.
She looked away.
“I don't know what love is anymore.”
He whispered, “I do.”
But before he could continue, his phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What's wrong?” Grace asked.
Miles looked at her.
“Your apartment.”
Grace's stomach dropped.
“What about it?”
“Someone broke in.”
The scene that followed made no sense.
Nothing valuable had been stolen.
Her television was untouched.
Her laptop was untouched.
Only one thing was missing.
Her mother's photograph.
May you like
And on the mirror above her bed, someone had written three words in red lipstick.
YOU KNOW TOO MUCH.
