Chapter 9 - The Red Case Is Missing
The storage unit was almost empty.
That was the first bad sign.
The second was the security footage.
Someone had entered at 3:42 a.m.
Four hours before police obtained the warrant.
They wore a dark coat and baseball cap.
The face was hidden.
But the person knew the keypad code.
Daniel Langley denied going anywhere near the unit.
He denied everything.
By late afternoon, federal investigators were involved because Foundation money had crossed state lines through shell companies.
Gabriel returned to the penthouse under strict advice not to contact Daniel or Ethan.
He obeyed.
For exactly two hours.
Then his private phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Ethan spoke first.
“You always were bad at choosing who to trust.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
Maya immediately began tracing the call.
Sarah stood nearby.
Victoria froze across the room.
Gabriel said, “You killed my mother.”
Ethan laughed softly.
“She would have destroyed everything.”
“She was trying to stop you from stealing.”
“She was trying to destroy the company her husband built.”
Gabriel’s hand curled into a fist.
“You stole from sick children and scholarship funds.”
“I moved money.”
“You murdered her.”
A pause.
Then Ethan’s voice cooled.
“Careful with words you can’t prove.”
Gabriel glanced at Maya.
She shook her head.
Not yet.
Ethan continued.
“Raymond is weak. Daniel is weaker. Victoria was always useless.”
Victoria flinched.
“But Sarah?”
His voice changed.
“She surprised me.”
Sarah’s skin prickled.
Gabriel stepped closer to her.
“What do you want?”
“The phone.”
Sarah stared.
Ethan laughed.
“The one Sarah used to photograph the folder.”
Gabriel looked confused.
“The photographs were deleted.”
“That isn’t why I want it.”
Sarah’s stomach dropped.
Maya looked sharply at the device.
Ethan continued.
“Sarah recorded something she doesn’t know she recorded.”
Everyone went still.
The phone’s voice assistant had apparently activated while Sarah struggled with Victoria in the hallway.
A partial audio clip had synced automatically.
Maya had not checked voice recordings.
Sarah looked at her.
Maya immediately opened the device.
There it was.
A forty-seven-second file.
Timestamped three hours before dinner.
Gabriel put the call on speaker.
“Too late.”
Ethan said nothing.
Maya played the recording.
There was fabric noise.
Sarah’s frightened breathing.
Victoria’s voice.
“Give me the phone.”
Then Sarah:
“Let go of me.”
A door slammed.
Victoria cursed.
And then another voice, farther down the hallway.
Daniel Langley.
Sarah’s eyes widened.
She had never known he was in the penthouse that afternoon.
His words came through faintly.
“Ethan said she cannot leave with evidence.”
Gabriel stared at Victoria.
She looked equally shocked.
Daniel continued on the recording.
“If she won’t give you the phone, call me. I’ll handle her the way we handled Eleanor.”
The room went dead silent.
Ethan disconnected.
Maya whispered, “That’s enough for conspiracy.”
Victoria sat down hard.
“My father was here.”
Sarah’s heart pounded.
Gabriel called the lead detective.
But before the call connected, Maya’s laptop chimed.
Building security had flagged an elevator access.
Private level.
Fifty-seventh floor.
Someone had just arrived.
May you like
The elevator doors opened.
And Daniel Langley stepped into the penthouse carrying a red metal case.
