Chapter 10 - Rachel's Final Beneficiary
Elena stared at her name.
"I didn't know."
Ethan believed her.
That surprised them both.
Months earlier, he would have suspected anyone.
Now he didn't hesitate.
"Rachel did this."
The insurance policy was worth twelve million dollars.
Elena felt sick.
"I don't want it."
"It's not about the money."
Ethan was right.
Rachel had left a message.
The question was why.
Investigators traced the amendment to Rachel's attorney.
Not Victor.
A woman named Rebecca Sloan.
Rebecca had disappeared after the crash.
Marcus found her in New Mexico.
She agreed to speak only to Elena.
They met by video.
Rebecca cried when she saw her.
"You look like Rachel."
Elena couldn't answer.
"Why did she make me beneficiary?"
"Because she knew Ethan's accounts were being monitored."
"By Victor?"
"By someone else."
Rebecca explained that Rachel feared the conspiracy reached deeper into the Carter family.
She wanted money available to Elena because Elena existed outside the Carter network.
"She intended to tell Ethan about you the night she died."
Ethan closed his eyes.
"What about Daniel's authorization?"
"Rachel suspected Daniel."
Daniel swore.
Ethan raised a hand.
"Let her finish."
Rebecca continued.
"Then she changed her mind."
"Why?"
"Because she discovered his credentials had been cloned."
Daniel looked vindicated but horrified.
"Who cloned them?"
Rebecca leaned toward the camera.
"Someone who had access to every Carter executive account."
Ethan knew only three people qualified.
Himself.
Daniel.
And the company's chief technology officer.
Marcus searched.
The CTO had died eighteen months earlier.
Apparent suicide.
His widow still lived in Dallas.
They visited her.
She gave them a locked laptop her husband had told her never to open.
Inside were logs showing Victor accessing Daniel's credentials.
But there was more.
Victor had not acted alone.
A user named RC_ADMIN had approved the transfers.
Rachel Carter?
Impossible.
Then Elena noticed the dates.
Some occurred after Rachel died.
Someone was using her credentials.
Marcus traced the access point.
The Carter mansion.
Ethan went silent.
Someone inside his home had been helping Victor.
Mrs. Herrera?
Staff?
Security?
They reviewed three years of personnel.
Eleven housekeepers.
One pattern emerged.
Every housekeeper quit shortly after entering a specific part of the mansion.
The private study.
Ethan remembered.
He had blamed them for snooping.
But perhaps they had seen something.
They contacted the most recent former housekeeper.
She refused to speak.
Then Elena called.
"I'm the new housekeeper."
Silence.
"Please."
The woman finally whispered, "Check behind the bookcase."
Ethan and Elena entered his study.
The forbidden room he had protected obsessively.
Ironically, he had never examined it closely because everything had belonged to his father.
Behind a bookcase they found network equipment.
Hidden.
Active.
Someone had been remotely using Ethan's home system for years.
Marcus traced it.
A basement maintenance room.
Inside were monitors showing feeds from nearly every room.
Including Lily's bedroom.
Including Elena's apartment.
Ethan stared.
Victor had watched them.
But one monitor displayed a live feed.
Carmen's guest room.
Empty.
Elena ran upstairs.
"Grandma?"
No answer.
The oxygen machine was running.
The bed was empty.
On the pillow was a note.
Elena picked it up.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT CARMEN TO LIVE.
May you like
Then she heard the guest-room bathroom door click.
Someone locked it from inside.
