Chapter 14 - My Father Knew
I opened the envelope at Elena’s bedside.
My father’s letter was dated seven years earlier.
Vincent, if you are reading this, then I failed to fix what I created.
I stopped.
My father admitted the shell companies.
He claimed they began as a way to move money through corrupt permit systems during the company’s early years.
Then they became convenient.
Then profitable.
Then impossible to control.
He admitted Anthony discovered them in college.
Instead of being horrified, Anthony was fascinated.
I read the next line twice.
I told myself I could teach him limits. That was arrogance. I taught him methods.
Elena squeezed my hand.
My father had attempted to dismantle the system before his death.
He failed.
He left instructions for an outside law firm to investigate if Anthony ever gained emergency control of the company.
Anthony had discovered those instructions and spent years removing safeguards.
One remained.
A sealed archive held by an attorney in Washington, D.C.
The archive contained original records tying every shell company to the people behind it.
Claire called the attorney.
He confirmed the archive existed.
Then his assistant interrupted.
Someone had requested access that morning using my name and passport number.
Not me.
The assistant checked building security.
A woman was already in the lobby.
Vanessa.
She had been released from the hospital for a minor injury during arrest processing and transported under guard.
Somehow, she had escaped.
Claire shouted into the phone, “Lock the building now.”
The line went dead.
Theo pulled up street cameras.
Vanessa came out a side door carrying a black document case.
She got into a waiting car.
May you like
The driver turned toward the camera.
Marco.
