Chapter 7 - Her Family Begged Her to Leave Him, Until Her Missing Brother Sent a Message That Exposed the Real Enemy
The photograph changed the direction of the investigation.
Until then, we had believed Jenna was being used to conceal financial fraud.
Now it appeared that her identity might have been selected specifically because of her proximity to me.
Ryan had known Jenna long before she worked for Blackwood Enterprises.
He had pressured her to leave Denver.
When she refused, he had continued asking questions about my company.
Then, after their engagement ended, he had connected with Victor Shaw.
The timing suggested that Ryan's interest in Jenna had become entangled with a larger plan.
But there were still missing pieces.
Detective Foster wanted to know who had sent the photograph.
Marcus began reviewing its metadata.
Rachel warned us not to assume the message was truthful.
Someone could be trying to manipulate us.
I agreed.
But the possibility that Jenna had been targeted because of me made it difficult to sleep.
Two days after I left the hospital, Richard and Patricia Hart came to visit.
Richard brought flowers.
Patricia brought a casserole.
Jenna looked stunned.
"Mom, you cooked?"
Patricia gave a nervous smile.
"I remember what you like."
It was a small gesture.
But it mattered.
We sat in the living room.
My shoulder was healing.
I wore a sling and had been ordered to avoid strenuous activity.
Jenna had taken that instruction personally.
She refused to let me lift anything heavier than a coffee mug.
Richard asked about the investigation.
I explained what we could.
Then Patricia began crying.
"Jenna, I want you to come home."
Jenna stiffened.
"Mom."
"Just until this is over."
"I'm safe here."
"You were attacked."
"At a secure residence," Jenna replied. "Not because I was with Evan."
Patricia looked at me.
"With respect, Mr. Blackwood, your world is dangerous."
"You're right," I said.
She blinked.
I continued.
"And Jenna has every right to decide whether she wants any part of it."
Patricia looked back at her daughter.
"Please."
Jenna took a breath.
"Mom, I know you're scared."
"I am."
"So am I."
Patricia's face softened.
"But I won't let fear make my decisions for me anymore."
Richard nodded slowly.
Patricia wiped her eyes.
"I never wanted to hurt you."
Jenna looked at her.
"I believe that."
Patricia began to smile.
Then Jenna continued.
"But you did."
The smile disappeared.
"You trusted Ryan over me. You gave him my address. You signed papers without my permission. You kept secrets because you thought you knew what was best."
Patricia lowered her head.
Jenna's voice trembled.
"I need you to understand that loving me doesn't give you ownership of my life."
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Then Patricia whispered, "You're right."
Jenna looked surprised.
Her mother continued.
"I was wrong."
Tears filled Jenna's eyes.
Patricia stood.
"I don't expect you to forgive me immediately."
Jenna nodded.
"But I want to earn back your trust."
Jenna rose.
They embraced.
It wasn't a perfect reconciliation.
It didn't erase years of pain.
But it was a beginning.
After they left, Jenna sat beside me.
"That was exhausting."
I kissed her forehead.
"You were brave."
"I was terrified."
"Those things aren't mutually exclusive."
She smiled.
Then her phone rang.
Matt.
She answered.
"Hey."
No response.
"Matt?"
A strange sound came through the speaker.
Then the call ended.
Jenna frowned.
"That's weird."
She called back.
Straight to voicemail.
She tried Olivia.
No answer.
Her expression changed.
"Evan?"
I was already reaching for my phone.
Marcus checked with Matt's office.
He had left three hours earlier.
Olivia's assistant said she had gone to meet him.
Neither had returned.
Jenna's face went pale.
"Something happened."
"We don't know that."
But I was worried.
Detective Foster was notified.
Officers checked their apartment.
Their cars were missing.
Security footage showed Matt leaving his office with a man wearing a gray coat.
He appeared to recognize the man.
The footage showed no obvious struggle.
Olivia had been seen entering a parking garage downtown.
Then she disappeared from camera coverage.
By midnight, both were officially considered missing under suspicious circumstances.
Jenna sat in my library, staring at her phone.
I sat beside her.
"We'll find them."
She looked at me.
"You can't promise that."
I swallowed.
"No."
She began crying.
I held her.
At two thirteen in the morning, a message arrived from Matt's number.
It contained a photograph of him and Olivia.
They were sitting in a small room.
Both appeared frightened but unharmed.
Beneath the photograph was a message.
"Tell Blackwood to release the original transport ledger. No police."
Jenna stared.
"What ledger?"
I felt my stomach tighten.
The original transport ledger.
A physical record maintained by my father before the company digitized its operations.
It contained handwritten entries documenting shipments, payments, and business relationships.
Some entries were legitimate.
Others were not.
I had inherited it when my father died.
For years, it had remained in a secure archive.
Victor Shaw knew it existed.
He had asked to destroy it twice.
I had refused.
Now I understood why.
"Shaw wants evidence," I said.
Jenna looked at me.
"Evidence of what?"
"Something older than the current fraud."
She stood.
"Then give it to him."
I looked at her.
"Jenna—"
"My brother is missing."
"I know."
"Olivia is missing."
"I know."
"Then why are we discussing paperwork?"
I rose carefully.
"Because if we hand over the only evidence Shaw fears, he may have no reason to keep them alive."
She stared at me.
The truth was brutal.
But necessary.
I continued.
"We need the police. We need a plan."
She looked away.
Tears ran down her face.
"I hate this."
I approached.
"I know."
She turned back.
"Promise me you won't do something reckless."
I looked at her.
"I promise I'll work with the investigators."
She studied me.
Then she nodded.
Detective Foster arrived within an hour.
He examined the message.
A technical team began tracing its origin.
I explained the ledger.
Foster listened carefully.
"Where is it?"
"In a secure archive."
"Who has access?"
"Me and my attorney."
He nodded.
"We need to examine it."
I agreed.
At dawn, Rachel accompanied investigators to the archive.
The ledger was recovered under documented chain of custody.
Its contents were worse than I remembered.
My father had recorded payments to corrupt officials.
Illegal shipments.
Protection arrangements.
And a series of transactions involving a company called Mercer Industrial Holdings.
Ryan's father's business.
I stared at the name.
I had known Ryan's family had money.
I had not known their history intersected with mine.
Foster turned the pages.
"Do you recognize this?"
I shook my head.
The entries dated back nearly fifteen years.
At that time, I had been a young man working in my father's organization.
I had not controlled the business.
But the ledger showed that Victor Shaw had been involved even then.
And one particular entry caught Foster's attention.
A payment marked:
"PRICE FAMILY—SETTLEMENT."
Samuel Price.
The missing auditor.
His father had worked for my organization years earlier.
According to the ledger, he had received a large payment shortly before dying in what was officially ruled an industrial accident.
I felt sick.
Had Samuel discovered the connection?
Had that been why he was targeted?
Foster photographed the page.
Then another message arrived from Matt's phone.
This time, it was a video.
Matt looked directly at the camera.
His voice shook.
"Jenna, listen to me."
Olivia sat beside him.
A man offscreen ordered Matt to hurry.
Matt swallowed.
"Don't give them the ledger."
Jenna gasped.
Matt continued.
"Ryan isn't running this."
The camera shook.
"Victor Shaw isn't either."
Someone shouted.
Matt spoke faster.
"The person behind everything is—"
The video cut off.
Jenna stared at the screen.
Then a final text appeared.
"ASK YOUR FATHER WHAT HAPPENED FIFTEEN YEARS AGO."
Richard Hart.
Jenna's father.
The man who had spent his life building a small construction company.
The man who had apologized for judging me.
The man who claimed he knew nothing about Ryan's financial scheme.
Jenna looked at me.
"No."
I said nothing.
She shook her head.
"Not my dad."
I wanted to believe her.
But the message was too specific to ignore.
Detective Foster called Richard in for questioning.
Jenna insisted on being present with her attorney.
I accompanied her.
Richard arrived looking terrified.
When Foster showed him the ledger, his face went white.
He stared at one entry for a long time.
Then he whispered, "I thought that was buried."
Jenna stopped breathing.
"Dad?"
May you like
Richard covered his face.
And I knew we were about to learn something that would change everything.
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