Chapter 7 — The Missing Millions
Chapter 7 — The Missing Millions
The man standing in the doorway had not aged gracefully.
He had aged like someone who had spent twenty-five years running from a death sentence.
Gray hair covered his temples. A jagged scar ran from his left eyebrow toward his cheek. His coat was soaked from the rain, and his breathing was heavy.
But Dominic recognized him.
There was no doubt.
“Thomas Reed.”
The name left Dominic's mouth like a question.
Thomas gave a tired smile.
“You remember.”
“I remember the funeral.”
“So do I.”
“You were supposed to be dead.”
Thomas looked at Richard.
“That was the idea.”
Richard's expression was unreadable.
Natalie stepped backward.
“You knew he was alive.”
Richard didn't answer.
Dominic looked between them.
“How many people in this family are ghosts?”
Thomas entered the blue room and closed the door behind him.
“More than you think.”
Dominic kept his weapon raised.
“Start talking.”
Thomas nodded.
“That sounds like your father.”
“I am nothing like my father.”
“No.”
Thomas studied him.
“That's why you're still alive.”
Brooke looked at him.
“You said you knew who killed Catherine.”
“I do.”
“Who?”
Thomas didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at the three pieces of blue glass sitting on the table.
“The ledger.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What about it?”
“It wasn't a ledger.”
Richard frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Thomas smiled bitterly.
“We've all been calling it the wrong thing for twenty-five years.”
He pointed toward the fragments.
“It was an account.”
“An account of what?”
“Every dollar stolen from the Mercer empire.”
Dominic stared.
“How much?”
Thomas looked directly at him.
“Two hundred and eighty-six million dollars.”
Silence.
Natalie's face went pale.
Brooke whispered:
“That's impossible.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Dominic.
“What's impossible is that your family survived as long as it did.”
Dominic lowered his weapon slightly.
“Who stole it?”
Thomas answered immediately.
“Your father.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“How?”
“Shell companies.”
“Where?”
“Delaware. Cayman Islands. Switzerland. Hong Kong.”
Richard stepped forward.
“And the trust?”
Thomas nodded.
“Your mother discovered the transfers.”
Dominic looked at the blue fragments.
“She created the trust to recover the money.”
“No.”
Thomas's voice became quiet.
“She created the trust to prevent your father from stealing the rest.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“How much was left?”
“Less than sixty million.”
Natalie stared.
“Our family was almost broke?”
“On paper, you were worth billions.”
Thomas smiled sadly.
“In reality, your father had already moved most of it.”
Dominic looked at Richard.
“And you knew.”
Richard didn't deny it.
“Yes.”
“You knew my father was stealing.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Richard was alive.”
“Yes.”
Dominic's voice became colder.
“And you still let me believe my father was a victim.”
Thomas looked away.
“I was following orders.”
“Whose?”
Thomas didn't answer.
Dominic stepped closer.
“Whose orders?”
Thomas whispered:
“Catherine's.”
The room fell silent.
Dominic shook his head.
“My mother ordered you to disappear?”
“She ordered me to protect you.”
“From whom?”
“Everyone.”
Thomas reached into his coat.
Dominic immediately raised his weapon again.
Thomas slowly pulled out a small envelope.
“Your mother gave me this the night your father died.”
He handed it to Dominic.
The envelope was old.
The paper was yellow.
Dominic recognized the handwriting.
He opened it.
Inside was a bank statement.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped.
TRANSFER: $18,400,000
Another.
TRANSFER: $31,700,000
Another.
TRANSFER: $44,200,000
All transferred from the Mercer accounts.
But the destination account was unfamiliar.
Dominic read the account holder.
His face changed.
NATALIE MERCER FOUNDATION.
Natalie froze.
“What?”
Dominic looked at her.
“You received eighteen million dollars.”
“I never received anything.”
“There are transfers in your name.”
“I swear to you, I didn't.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“She didn't.”
Dominic turned.
“Then who did?”
Thomas looked at Brooke.
Brooke's face went white.
“No.”
Dominic followed his gaze.
“You?”
Brooke shook her head.
“I've never seen that account.”
Thomas replied:
“You haven't.”
He pointed to the statement.
“Your father opened it.”
Brooke stared.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“And used Natalie's name?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Thomas looked at Dominic.
“Because Natalie was the only person your father believed Catherine would protect.”
Natalie sat down.
Her hands trembled.
“So someone stole money using my identity.”
“Not someone,” Thomas said.
“Your father.”
“But my father died twenty years ago.”
Thomas nodded.
“The transfers happened afterward.”
Natalie's eyes widened.
“Then he didn't die.”
Dominic looked at Thomas.
“What are you saying?”
Thomas hesitated.
“I'm saying the man buried under your father's name wasn't your father.”
Nobody moved.
Brooke whispered:
“Then who was it?”
Thomas looked at Richard.
Richard closed his eyes.
“A substitute.”
Dominic felt sick.
“You're telling me my father's death was staged.”
“Yes.”
“And the man who supposedly died wasn't him.”
“Yes.”
“Where is my father?”
Thomas looked at the floor.
“I don't know.”
Dominic grabbed his collar.
“You'd better start knowing.”
Thomas didn't resist.
“I haven't seen him in nineteen years.”
“Then where did he go?”
“South America.”
Dominic released him.
Richard spoke quietly.
“He's alive.”
Brooke suddenly laughed.
Everyone turned.
She was crying.
“You don't understand.”
Dominic looked at her.
“What?”
“My father isn't the worst thing I've discovered tonight.”
She reached into her handbag.
She pulled out a folded document.
“My father didn't steal the money.”
Dominic stared.
“Then who did?”
Brooke unfolded the document.
It was a transfer authorization.
Signed twenty years earlier.
The signature was unmistakable.
Catherine Mercer.
Dominic stared.
“No.”
Brooke pointed to the account.
“Your mother transferred the money.”
Natalie stood.
“Why?”
Brooke shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Dominic snatched the paper.
The authorization was real.
The signature was real.
The account was real.
And the amount was staggering.
$72,000,000.
Dominic looked at Thomas.
“What was this money for?”
Thomas answered:
“Protection.”
“Protection for whom?”
He hesitated.
“Richard.”
Dominic looked at his uncle.
Richard didn't deny it.
“Your mother paid people to hide me.”
Dominic stared.
“For twenty-five years?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
Richard looked down.
“Seventy-two million.”
The room went silent.
Natalie whispered:
“Mom spent seventy-two million dollars hiding you?”
Richard nodded.
“Because your father was still looking for me.”
Dominic's anger returned.
“And she let me believe you were dead.”
“She wanted you to live.”
“She lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
Dominic turned away.
“Everyone lied.”
Noah was standing silently near the door.
He had heard everything.
Dominic noticed him.
“Noah.”
The boy looked up.
“Is Grandma bad?”
Dominic froze.
“No.”
“But she stole money.”
“No.”
“She lied.”
Dominic crouched.
“Sometimes people lie because they're afraid.”
Noah thought about that.
“Were you afraid?”
Dominic smiled sadly.
“Very.”
Noah nodded.
“Mom says being scared doesn't make someone bad.”
Dominic looked at Natalie.
She was crying.
“No,” he said.
“It doesn't.”
Suddenly, Thomas's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
“What's wrong?” Dominic asked.
Thomas didn't answer.
The phone rang again.
He finally picked up.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then his face went pale.
He handed the phone to Dominic.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You found the money.”
Dominic tightened his grip.
“Who are you?”
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Where did the missing millions go?”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“You stole them?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
The voice laughed.
“Your mother.”
Dominic stared at Thomas.
The voice continued.
“She didn't protect Richard with seventy-two million.”
“She bought his silence.”
Richard's expression changed.
“That's a lie.”
The voice continued.
“She paid him to disappear because he knew what happened to Catherine.”
Dominic's heart stopped.
“What happened to my mother?”
Silence.
Then:
“Ask Richard.”
The call ended.
Dominic slowly turned toward his uncle.
“Richard.”
Richard looked exhausted.
“I didn't kill her.”
“I didn't ask that.”
“You were going to.”
“No.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“I want to know what you saw the night she died.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“I wasn't there.”
Thomas shook his head.
“You were.”
Richard glared at him.
“Don't.”
Dominic looked between them.
“You both know something.”
Thomas remained silent.
Richard finally spoke.
“Your mother called me that night.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me to leave.”
“Why?”
“She said your father had returned.”
Dominic froze.
“My father was there?”
“Yes.”
“And you left?”
“I had no choice.”
“You left her alone.”
Richard's voice broke.
“She ordered me to.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew someone was coming.”
“Who?”
Richard looked at Natalie.
Then at Noah.
Then at Dominic.
“I don't know.”
Dominic stared.
“You don't know?”
“I heard a gunshot.”
“When?”
“After I left.”
“How long?”
“Less than ten minutes.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“And you never came back.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I was being followed.”
“By whom?”
Richard whispered:
“Thomas.”
Everyone turned.
Thomas closed his eyes.
Dominic stared at him.
“You followed Richard?”
“Yes.”
“On Catherine's orders?”
Thomas nodded.
“She wanted me to make sure he stayed alive.”
Dominic's expression twisted.
“While she was dying?”
Thomas didn't answer.
Then Emma's voice came from the doorway.
“Sir.”
Dominic turned.
She held a folder.
“I found this in the staff archives.”
“What is it?”
“Old payroll records.”
Dominic took them.
Emma pointed to one page.
“There.”
A name.
M. VOSS.
Dominic frowned.
“Who is that?”
Emma shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Thomas stepped closer.
His face changed.
“Where did you find this?”
“In Catherine's private accounting files.”
Thomas took the paper.
His hands began shaking.
“This can't be.”
Dominic grabbed it.
“What?”
Thomas whispered:
“Voss wasn't an employee.”
“Then what was he?”
“A trustee.”
Dominic looked at the payment records.
There were monthly transfers.
Small at first.
Then larger.
For twenty-five years.
The final payment had been made only three weeks ago.
Dominic stared.
“Someone is still paying him.”
Richard looked at Thomas.
“Then he's alive.”
Thomas nodded.
“And if he's alive…”
Dominic finished the sentence.
“…he knows where the money went.”
The next morning, Dominic entered the financial office.
The missing millions had become the only thing he could think about.
He opened Catherine's archived records.
One account.
Then another.
Then another.
The transfers formed a pattern.
Seventy-two million to protect Richard.
Eighteen million through Natalie's identity.
Thirty million to shell companies.
Forty million to unknown trustees.
But there was one account that appeared repeatedly.
A dormant Mercer account.
Opened twenty-five years ago.
No withdrawals.
No deposits.
Except one.
Three weeks ago.
$286,000,000.
Dominic stopped breathing.
The entire missing fortune.
Every dollar.
Returned.
But not to the Mercer family.
The money had been transferred to an account in Noah's name.
Dominic stared.
“No.”
Natalie entered.
“What happened?”
He turned the screen toward her.
She read it.
Her face went pale.
“Why would Mom put all that money in Noah's name?”
Dominic shook his head.
“She didn't.”
“Then who did?”
A notification appeared.
TRANSFER PENDING.
Then another.
BENEFICIARY: NOAH MERCER.
And beneath it:
AUTHORIZED BY: DOMINIC MERCER.
Dominic stared.
“I never authorized this.”
Natalie whispered:
“Someone has your signature.”
Emma ran into the room.
“Sir!”
“What?”
“The bank called.”
Dominic turned.
“What did they say?”
“They said someone tried to withdraw the entire amount.”
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
“Who?”
Emma looked terrified.
“They said the person had your authorization.”
Dominic's blood ran cold.
“Where?”
“The private branch downtown.”
Dominic grabbed his coat.
“I'll go.”
Natalie caught his arm.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because this is exactly what they want.”
Dominic stopped.
She continued.
“Someone wants you to chase the money.”
“Then what are they hiding?”
Natalie looked toward Noah.
“The real target.”
Dominic slowly turned.
Noah was standing in the doorway.
A stranger stood behind him.
The man was wearing a dark suit.
Dominic immediately drew his weapon.
“Step away from my nephew.”
The stranger raised his hands.
“I don't want to hurt him.”
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“My name is Michael Voss.”
Dominic froze.
The same name from the payroll records.
Voss looked at Noah.
Then at Dominic.
“I've been waiting twenty-five years to meet you.”
Dominic raised the gun.
“Why?”
Voss smiled.
“Because your mother promised me something.”
“What?”
Voss looked toward the blue fragments.
“The last piece of the ledger.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“I don't have it.”
Voss nodded.
“You do.”
“Where?”
Voss pointed toward Noah.
The boy looked confused.
“Your nephew has been carrying it all along.”
Dominic stared at Noah.
“No.”
Voss smiled.
“Check his graduation medal.”
Noah reached toward his pocket.
He pulled out the small silver medal Catherine had given him before her death.
Dominic turned it over.
A blue fragment was hidden beneath the engraved plate.
The fourth piece.
Voss whispered:
“Now you have four.”
Then the mansion doors slammed shut.
Every lock in the house engaged at once.
And a message appeared on Dominic's computer screen.
$286,000,000 TRANSFER COMPLETE.
Dominic stared.
The money was gone.
All of it.
May you like
And beneath the message was one final line:
THANK YOU FOR FINDING IT FOR US.
