Chapter 4
I did not sleep that night.
Liam finally fell asleep against my chest shortly before three in the morning.
Even then, every few minutes his body jerked as if he were trying to escape something in his dreams.
I held him tighter each time.
“You’re home with me.”
I kept saying it.
For him.
For myself.
“You’re home with me.”
At six, Rachel arrived with two coffees and a folder thick enough to frighten me before she even opened it.
Dad was asleep in a chair beside Liam’s bed.
Rachel lowered her voice.
“I have bad news.”
“I’m beginning to forget what good news sounds like.”
She sat beside me.
“The corporate records are worse than I expected.”
“How?”
“Jeffrey didn’t just send you to London to keep you out of Atlanta. He used your absence to restructure portions of Bennett-Hale.”
I stared at her.
“He couldn’t. Major changes require shareholder approval.”
“Yes. Your approval.”
“I never approved anything.”
Rachel slid several documents toward me.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
Perfect.
Too perfect.
I knew immediately.
“Forgeries.”
“That’s our position.”
“What did he transfer?”
“Vendor contracts. Intellectual property licensing. Several profitable domestic accounts.”
“To whom?”
Rachel hesitated.
“A private company called CBA Holdings.”
The initials hit me.
Cynthia Blake.
Austin.
I looked up.
“Who owns it?”
“Cynthia owns sixty percent.”
“And the rest?”
“Jeffrey.”
I almost laughed.
While I was in London earning international contracts for the company my father built, Jeffrey had been quietly moving domestic revenue into a business owned by his mistress.
“How much?”
“Preliminary estimate?”
“Yes.”
“Twenty-three million dollars.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“And no one noticed?”
“Someone did.”
Rachel handed me another page.
An internal audit memo.
The author’s name was Marcus Chen, Bennett-Hale’s former controller.
I remembered him.
Brilliant.
Quiet.
Loyal to my father.
“He resigned last year.”
“No,” Rachel said. “He was fired.”
“For what?”
“Jeffrey accused him of embezzlement.”
I looked at the memo.
Marcus had flagged suspicious vendor transfers and signature discrepancies eleven months earlier.
Three days later, he was terminated.
“Where is he?”
“We’re trying to locate him.”
My father stirred.
He opened his eyes.
“What did Jeffrey steal?”
Rachel looked at me.
I answered.
“Maybe twenty-three million.”
Dad sat upright.
For one second, I saw the old CEO return.
Cold.
Focused.
Dangerously calm.
“Freeze every account connected to CBA.”
Rachel nodded.
“I already filed for emergency injunctive relief.”
Dad looked at me.
“And remove Jeffrey.”
“As CEO?”
“Yes.”
I glanced at Liam sleeping.
“Call an emergency board meeting.”
Dad’s expression softened.
“You don’t have to handle the company today.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Madeline—”
“He used the company to keep me away from Liam.”
My voice cracked.
“So I’m taking away the weapon he used.”
At nine, Liam woke screaming.
I dropped everything.
He clawed at the blankets.
“No closet!”
I gathered him against me.
“No closet.”
“Light stay.”
“The light stays.”
“Mommy stay.”
“I’m staying.”
He slowly calmed.
Then he looked toward the hospital tray.
Breakfast.
Pancakes.
Eggs.
Fruit.
He stared at the food but did not reach for it.
“You can eat.”
His eyes moved toward me.
“Chair?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“If you want.”
He looked at the floor.
Then back at me.
“Mommy chair?”
“Mommy sits with you.”
He let me place him on my lap.
I cut one pancake into small pieces.
He ate slowly.
After every bite, he paused and watched my face.
As though waiting to discover whether he had taken too much.
I smiled each time.
“Good?”
He nodded.
Halfway through breakfast, he picked up a strawberry.
Then held it toward my mouth.
“For Mommy.”
I almost cried.
After everything done to him, he was still trying to feed me.
I took a bite.
“Best strawberry ever.”
A tiny smile appeared.
The first one I had seen.
That smile became my reason for everything that followed.
At eleven, a child protective services investigator named Dana Walsh interviewed me.
Then Dad.
Then, carefully, Liam.
Dana used toys.
Pictures.
Simple questions.
I watched through observation glass with Dr. Hart and Detective Ortiz.
Dana placed three dolls on the carpet.
“This can be Liam.”
She held up a small boy doll.
“This can be Mommy.”
Then an adult woman.
“Who else lives at the house?”
Liam picked up a male doll.
“Daddy.”
A woman.
“Nana.”
Another woman.
“Cyn.”
Then a boy.
“Austin good.”
Dana didn’t react.
“What about Liam?”
He placed the Liam doll beneath a tiny plastic table.
“Liam bad.”
My hand flew to my mouth.
Dana asked, “Who says Liam is bad?”
He pointed to the Noelle doll.
Then Cynthia.
Then after a long pause, Jeffrey.
All three.
Dr. Hart quietly left the room.
I suspected he needed a moment.
Dana continued.
“What happens when Liam is bad?”
He put the doll inside a plastic toy box.
“Dark.”
My knees weakened.
“What happens in the dark?”
Liam covered the doll with both hands.
“Quiet.”
“What if Liam isn’t quiet?”
His face changed.
He looked toward the observation glass.
He couldn’t see me.
But I felt as if he were looking straight through it.
“Daddy mad.”
I closed my eyes.
Dana stopped soon after.
She had enough.
So did the district attorney.
At two that afternoon, Detective Ortiz returned.
“Jeffrey, Noelle, and Cynthia are being detained for questioning.”
“Not arrested?”
“Not yet.”
I hated the answer.
Then she continued.
“But there’s something else you should know.”
“What?”
“Austin is not currently with them.”
I frowned.
“Where is he?”
“Cynthia’s sister picked him up before officers returned to the property.”
“Is he safe?”
“We believe so.”
My anger toward Cynthia did not extend to her child.
Austin was three.
He had done nothing wrong.
“Make sure.”
Ortiz nodded.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered cautiously.
“Hello?”
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then a man whispered.
“Mrs. Bennett-Hale?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Marcus Chen.”
I stood.
Rachel, across the room, immediately looked toward me.
Marcus continued.
“I heard you came home.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been waiting almost a year for you to return.”
My pulse accelerated.
“What do you know?”
A long pause.
“Jeffrey didn’t just steal from the company.”
I tightened my grip on the phone.
“What else?”
“He paid someone to keep you in London.”
I looked at Rachel.
“And Mrs. Bennett-Hale?”
Marcus’s voice dropped even lower.
“I have proof that he was preparing to have you declared mentally incompetent.”
The air disappeared from the room.
“Why?”
“So he could take control of your shares.”
I looked at my sleeping son.
The truth was growing larger by the hour.
Jeffrey had wanted my company.
My money.
My house.
And apparently my life.
May you like
He had only needed one thing first.
To make sure I stayed far enough away that no one would hear me when he destroyed everything.
