Chapter 3 - The Secret in the Bank
I didn't ask Grant about the message.
Not yet.
I walked out of the law office with Daniel beside me.
The rain had stopped.
Manhattan glittered beneath the afternoon light.
For the first time in years, I felt like I was walking through the city as myself.
Not Emma Rowan.
Eleanor Vale.
The name on the documents.
The name on the trust.
The name my grandfather had left behind.
Daniel drove me to the Vale family offices.
They occupied the top floors of a glass tower.
I had avoided the building since my grandfather's funeral.
Now the elevator doors opened directly into a private reception area.
Several people stood waiting.
They lowered their heads when I entered.
I hated it.
“Please stop doing that.”
The receptionist looked startled.
Daniel smiled faintly.
“They've been waiting six years.”
“For what?”
“For you.”
Inside the executive conference room, twelve board members sat around a long table.
Among them was Grant's greatest professional rival, Victor Hale.
He stood immediately.
“Eleanor.”
I sat.
“Let's not make this ceremonial.”
Victor nodded.
Daniel placed a file in front of me.
“We have a problem.”
“What kind?”
“Someone has been moving money through a subsidiary.”
I opened the file.
Several transactions appeared.
Millions of dollars had passed through companies I didn't recognize.
“Who authorized them?”
“The signatures belong to Grant Rowan.”
My stomach tightened.
Grant had access to the bank.
But not enough access to move money without authorization.
I looked closer.
The transactions had occurred over eighteen months.
Some were dated before Grant's promotion.
Others had been made only weeks ago.
“Are you certain?”
Daniel nodded.
“The electronic authorization is his.”
I closed the file.
“Then we need to know who benefited.”
Victor exchanged a glance with Daniel.
“We're still tracing the final recipients.”
My phone vibrated again.
The same unknown number.
He didn't do it alone.
I looked up.
“Someone is watching this room.”
Everyone went silent.
Daniel asked, “Why?”
I showed him the message.
He read it.
Then his expression hardened.
“Don't answer.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
A third message arrived.
Ask Madison about the red folder.
My eyes narrowed.
Madison.
I remembered the way she had looked at me that morning.
Not like a woman watching another woman's marriage end.
Like someone who knew something.
I stood.
“I need to see Grant.”
Daniel frowned.
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
Grant was waiting at our old apartment.
I hadn't expected him to be there.
When I entered, he was standing beside the window.
He had removed his jacket.
His tie was loose.
For the first time in years, he looked uncertain.
“You're really going through with this.”
“I haven't done anything.”
“You went to the board.”
“Yes.”
“You embarrassed me.”
I stared at him.
“You embarrassed yourself.”
He flinched.
Then he reached into his pocket.
“I want to show you something.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
My grandfather.
Standing beside a younger Grant.
I froze.
“Where did you get this?”
Grant looked at me.
“He came to me six years ago.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“Before we married.”
I stared at the photograph.
Grant's voice dropped.
“He offered me something.”
“What?”
“He said if I protected you from certain people, I could build my career.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My grandfather knew about you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Grant looked away.
“Because he was afraid someone would come after you.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“Who?”
Grant didn't answer.
My phone vibrated.
I looked down.
One final message.
Ask Grant who opened the vault.
I looked back at him.
His face had gone completely white.
“Grant?”
He closed his eyes.
“I thought that was over.”
“What was over?”
He whispered the words.
“The night your grandfather died.”
Then someone knocked on the apartment door.
Three slow knocks.
May you like
Grant stepped backward.
Because he recognized the sound.
