Chapter 10 - The Wrong Enemy
Julian Price agreed to meet the detectives at a police station rather than somewhere dramatic and unsafe.
He arrived with two attorneys and a battered folder of invoices.
The records showed Victor's fund paying a consulting company for psychological profiles of executives and their families.
My profile had been written eighteen months earlier.
It included my work schedule, Sarah's fears about being left alone, Ethan's school enrollment, and Emma's medical history.
“Who ordered this?” Rachel asked.
Julian turned to the final page.
The author was listed as Rebecca Sloan.
Rebecca was my executive assistant.
She had worked beside me for nine years.
She knew when I traveled.
She handled Sarah's calls when meetings ran late.
She reminded me of both children's birthdays.
I had trusted her with the details of my life.
According to Julian, she'd been feeding those details to Victor in exchange for a future position at Hale Meridian.
I wanted to deny it.
Then Rachel showed me a message Rebecca had sent on Friday morning.
Your family situation is resolved. Enjoy the weekend.
At the time I had assumed she meant the custody schedule Sarah claimed to have arranged.
Now it looked like part of the operation.
Rebecca was questioned by investigators.
She admitted selling corporate information but denied knowledge of the children being abandoned.
Her account contradicted a payment note marked THREE-DAY WINDOW.
Ortiz told me not to mistake a suspicious note for proof of every crime.
I understood.
But the betrayal had become intimate.
People I had invited into my home had measured my children's vulnerability and converted it into strategy.
The board began to fracture as news of the investigation spread.
Two directors who had voted against me demanded an independent audit.
Victor insisted the evidence was manufactured by a desperate CEO.
For one afternoon it looked as though I might regain control.
Then a new video was posted online.
It showed Sarah crying and accusing me of leaving her penniless and frightened.
It was filmed long before the children were found.
The clip ended just before Victor's voice could be heard giving directions.
Within an hour, strangers were calling me a monster.
Ethan saw my face on a television in the waiting room.
“Daddy, why are they angry at you?”
I switched it off.
“Because they don't know the whole story.”
He considered that carefully.
“Then tell them the part about Emma.”
I hugged him.
May you like
“That's Emma's story to tell when she's ready.”
