Chapter 8 - The Offshore Account That Changed the Case
Just when I believed the worst was over, Simone called.
“Catherine, you need to sit down.”
“I hate when you start like that.”
“You should.”
“What happened?”
“We found the offshore account.”
My heart pounded.
“The one from the files?”
“Yes.”
“Who owns it?”
“That's the problem.”
She paused.
“It isn't Jonathan.”
I frowned.
“Then who?”
“Your husband wasn't the final beneficiary.”
“What?”
“I traced the trust.”
“Where does it lead?”
“To a company in the Cayman Islands.”
“That tells me nothing.”
“I know.”
“Who controls it?”
“Someone in your family.”
The room went silent.
“My family?”
“Your late father's business partner.”
I froze.
“Arthur Caldwell.”
“Who?”
“Your mother's cousin.”
I almost laughed.
“That makes no sense.”
“I thought so too.”
“Arthur died ten years ago.”
“Yes.”
“So how can he own the trust?”
“He doesn't.”
“Then who?”
Simone sent me a document.
Beneficiary: Thomas Hayes Family Legacy Trust.
My stomach dropped.
“Jonathan's father.”
“Yes.”
“But Thomas is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then the trust shouldn't be active.”
“It wasn't.”
“Until?”
“Until six months before Thomas died.”
“Why?”
A new document appeared.
Amendment to Legacy Agreement.
My father's signature.
I stared at it.
My father had amended his trust to protect the Hayes family.
But the amendment had been altered.
Someone had inserted Thomas's name.
“Forged,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
I sat down.
“Who forged it?”
“We don't know.”
I suddenly remembered the name Margaret Vale had mentioned.
Thomas had started Project Ash.
But perhaps he had not started alone.
We contacted the retired banker who had handled the family trust.
He agreed to meet us.
His name was Harold Pierce.
He was eighty-one.
And he remembered everything.
“The amendment was brought to me by Jonathan,” Harold said.
My blood ran cold.
“He said your father had authorized it.”
“But my father didn't.”
“No.”
Harold looked at me.
“Your father came into my office two weeks later.”
“What did he say?”
“That someone had forged his name.”
“What did he do?”
“He instructed me to freeze the trust.”
“Did you?”
“I tried.”
“What stopped you?”
Harold's hands trembled.
“Thomas Hayes.”
I stared at him.
“He threatened me.”
“With what?”
“My grandchildren.”
Another piece fell into place.
Thomas had controlled the system long before Jonathan became involved.
“But Thomas was dead,” I said.
“By the time your father died, yes.”
“Then who activated the trust?”
Harold leaned closer.
“Your husband.”
The room went silent.
Jonathan had not inherited a conspiracy.
He had inherited a plan.
And then he had perfected it.
When we returned to San Francisco, I received an unexpected visitor.
Andrea.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Jonathan wasn't the only person running Project Ash.”
“I know.”
She looked surprised.
“How?”
“The offshore account.”
She lowered her gaze.
“I knew.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Jonathan?”
“Yes.”
“And someone else.”
“Who?”
“Elliot.”
I frowned.
“He wasn't following Jonathan's orders.”
“What?”
“He had his own plan.”
She explained.
Elliot intended to take control of Hayes International after Jonathan's collapse.
He was using Jonathan as a shield.
The forged documents.
The fake audits.
The offshore transfers.
Everything was designed to create a controlled crisis.
Then Elliot would step in as the savior.
The board would appoint him temporary CEO.
He would sell the company's most valuable assets.
And move the money offshore.
I felt sick.
“So Jonathan thought he was the mastermind.”
“He wasn't.”
“Who was?”
Andrea looked at me.
“Elliot.”
We realized something simultaneously.
Elliot had disappeared.
And he had access to the company's emergency financial accounts.
We contacted federal investigators.
They issued an alert.
But Elliot had already begun transferring funds.
We had hours.
Not days.
Hours.
I looked at Simone.
“Find him.”
She nodded.
The chase had begun.
May you like
And for the first time, Jonathan wasn't the biggest threat.
The man who had been standing beside him all these years was.
