Chapter 4 - Evelyn Had Left a Warning
Adrian opened a hidden compartment inside his briefcase.
Marcus looked startled.
Apparently he did not know it existed.
Inside was a small recorder.
Adrian pressed play.
Claire heard static.
Then a woman’s voice.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
“Adrian, if you found Claire, don’t tell her where I am until you know
who followed you.”
Claire stopped breathing.
“Mom.”
Her knees weakened.
She sat down.
The recording continued.
“I know she thinks I’m dead. Let her hate me if she has to. It kept her
alive.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Ten years.
Birthdays.
Graduations.
Lonely apartments.
Every night she had wondered whether her mother died frightened and
alone.
And now Evelyn’s voice was coming through a recorder inside a
billionaire’s briefcase.
Adrian watched Claire carefully.
“I’m sorry.”
She ignored him.
Evelyn continued.
“Julian still believes I have the original Northstar ledger.”
Marcus looked toward the window.
Claire noticed.
“What is Northstar?”
Adrian answered.
“A shell company.”
Julian had allegedly used it to divert money from Cross Meridian
Holdings.
But Adrian said the theft was only the surface.
Northstar had processed payments to private clinics, investigators, and
security contractors.
Claire frowned.
“For what?”
Adrian looked at Marcus.
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
Evelyn’s recording answered.
“If Claire hears this, tell her the accident that killed her father was
not what she was told.”
Claire froze.
Her father had died when she was twelve.
A highway collision.
Two years before Evelyn disappeared.
Adrian closed his eyes.
Claire stared at him.
“What happened to my father?”
May you like
Adrian whispered:
“Your mother believed he was killed because he found Northstar first.”
