Chapter 7: The Man Who Disappeared
Mara refused to speak to investigators.
She asked for Elena.
Federal agents denied the request because Elena was still a subject of the same investigation.
Julian contacted a former federal prosecutor named Rachel Sloan, who had once worked with Elena’s father.
Rachel reviewed the evidence and secured a supervised meeting.
Mara sat behind a glass partition wearing a plain gray sweater.
She looked exhausted.
“Did you enter my penthouse?” Elena asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you take my security key?”
Mara closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas told me Lucas would be killed if I refused.”
Elena’s expression changed.
“Lucas?”
Mara leaned closer to the glass.
“Thomas said Lucas had discovered Monarch Ridge. He showed me photographs of people following him. I believed him.”
“Where is my security key?”
“I returned it. Thomas had already copied everything he needed.”
Julian spoke through the intercom.
“Why were you at Thomas’s house?”
“He called me after the liquidation order. He said he would give me the original transaction ledger if I helped him leave the country.”
“Did you see the ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
Mara glanced toward the guard standing behind Elena.
Then she shook her head.
“I can’t say it here.”
Elena understood.
“Is someone inside the investigation working with Thomas?”
Mara looked down at her hands.
Before she could answer, an alarm sounded in the hallway.
The lights flickered.
The guard stepped outside.
Mara suddenly rose and pressed both palms against the glass.
“Elena, listen to me.”
“I’m listening.”
“Thomas didn’t create Monarch.”
“Who did?”
“He was cleaning the money, but he wasn’t giving the orders.”
“Was it Veronica?”
Mara shook her head.
“Veronica reports to someone else.”
The lights went out.
Emergency lamps filled the room with red light.
Elena heard doors opening in the corridor.
When the main lights returned twenty seconds later, Mara was no longer behind the glass.
The door on her side stood open.
The guard lay unconscious in the hallway, still breathing.
Elena looked at the empty chair.
A message had been written across the glass with Mara’s fingertip.
May you like
Three words.
Ask your brother.
