Chapter 13 - The Dead Man at the Bank
Harper enlarged the photograph until the pixels blurred.
"No."
Roman took the phone.
The man looked older than Jonathan would have looked in Harper's memories.
Gray hair.
Glasses.
A scar near his temple.
But the face was unmistakable.
Harper knew it the way a person knows their own childhood.
"He's alive."
Roman didn't answer.
Harper called Sarah.
"Where was this taken?"
"Milwaukee."
"When?"
"Yesterday, 2:14 p.m."
Harper looked at Roman.
They drove there immediately.
The bank manager confirmed the man had produced valid identification.
Jonathan Bennett.
He accessed the Harbor Light account for eleven minutes.
Then left.
"What did he take?" Harper asked.
"Nothing."
"What did he do?"
"He deposited something."
The manager returned with a sealed envelope.
FOR HARPER.
Her hands shook as she opened it.
Inside was a train ticket.
And a note.
I owe you the truth.
The train departed in forty minutes.
Destination:
Lake Geneva.
Roman looked at her.
"You don't have to go."
"Yes, I do."
"I know."
They boarded.
Harper barely spoke during the journey.
Every memory of her father now felt unstable.
His funeral.
The closed casket.
Her mother's grief.
Daniel's confession.
Marcus's confession.
Everyone had lied.
At the station, a driver waited.
He brought them to a small house near the lake.
Harper approached the door.
It opened before she knocked.
Jonathan Bennett stood there.
Alive.
Harper hit him.
Hard.
Roman said nothing.
Jonathan touched his cheek.
"I deserved that."
Harper hit him again.
"That too."
Then she collapsed against him.
Her father held her.
She cried like the seventeen-year-old girl she'd never stopped being in some hidden place.
Eventually Harper pushed him away.
"Why?"
Jonathan explained.
Marcus had sabotaged his car.
Jonathan survived.
Margaret helped fake his death because they believed Harper would remain a target while he lived.
He spent fourteen years gathering evidence overseas.
"Mom thought you were dead."
"Until three years ago."
Harper laughed bitterly.
"So everybody knew except me."
"We were protecting—"
"Don't."
Jonathan stopped.
"Never say that word to me."
He nodded.
"You're right."
Roman remained near the window.
Jonathan looked at him.
"You became your father."
Roman's expression hardened.
"I hope not."
Jonathan smiled sadly.
"That's why you did."
Harper asked why he'd returned now.
"Clara."
"What about her?"
"She isn't the last beneficiary."
Of course.
Harper almost laughed.
"Who is?"
Jonathan opened a safe.
Inside was one final file.
He placed it on the table.
D.C.M. had been designed around a council of five beneficiaries.
Arthur.
Marcus.
Clara.
Isabella.
And one unknown fifth member.
Harper scanned the document.
The fifth signature had been hidden.
Jonathan had finally identified it.
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
Instead he looked at Roman.
Roman's face changed.
"No."
Harper turned.
"What?"
Jonathan slid over a photograph.
Roman picked it up.
A younger Roman stood outside a warehouse.
Beside him was his father.
Behind them, almost hidden, was a teenage girl.
Sarah Whitman.
Harper stared.
"No."
Jonathan said, "Sarah's father was the fifth beneficiary."
Harper exhaled.
"Her father died when she was twelve."
"Correct."
"So Sarah isn't involved."
Jonathan didn't answer.
Harper's stomach tightened.
"Say it."
"Sarah inherited his controlling interest."
"She doesn't know."
"I thought so too."
Harper remembered Sarah always being there.
Law school.
Her first job.
Connor.
The engagement.
The breakup.
The gala.
"She wouldn't."
Roman said quietly, "We don't know."
Harper called Sarah.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a message arrived.
From Sarah.
COME ALONE.
An address followed.
Harper closed her eyes.
"No."
Roman touched her hand.
"We'll find out."
The address was Harper's new office.
They returned to Chicago.
The building was dark.
Harper entered alone while Roman's team remained nearby.
Sarah stood inside.
Crying.
"Tell me it's not true," Harper said.
Sarah looked at her.
"I didn't know at first."
Harper's heart broke.
"When did you know?"
"Two years ago."
"Before I found Connor."
"Yes."
"You knew he was watching me?"
Sarah sobbed.
"Yes."
Harper stepped back as though struck.
"Why?"
"Because I was trying to find my father's money."
"And you used me."
"I never meant for you to get hurt."
Harper laughed.
"Everyone says that after hurting me."
Sarah wiped her face.
"I changed my mind."
"When?"
"The night of the gala."
"Why?"
"Because Connor was supposed to get you drunk and take you home."
Harper went still.
Sarah continued.
"He was supposed to steal your key. Instead he brought Paige because he wanted you angry enough to leave without him."
Connor had protected her.
In the most cowardly possible way.
Sarah reached into her purse.
"I have the final D.C.M. archive."
"Give it to me."
"I will."
A noise sounded behind Harper.
The office door opened.
Jonathan entered.
Sarah's face turned white.
"You."
Jonathan stopped.
Sarah raised a gun.
Harper whispered, "Sarah."
Tears streamed down Sarah's face.
"I'm sorry."
She pointed the weapon directly at Harper's father.
"My father didn't die naturally."
Jonathan looked at her.
"No."
Sarah's hand shook.
"You killed him."
Jonathan closed his eyes.
May you like
And said:
"Yes."
