Chapter 4 - Box B-17.
Claire did not speak until the elevator doors had opened and closed again.
The parking garage smelled of concrete, gasoline, and rain blowing in from the entrance.
Evelyn stayed pressed against her side.
Serena watched the elevator display as though she expected Julian to appear at any second.
"My father had a deposit box?"
Serena nodded.
"At Armitage Private Bank."
Claire knew the name.
The Vale family had used Armitage for generations.
"How do you know?"
"Because Julian has spent the last six months trying to gain access to it."
Claire looked down at the key.
"Why now?"
Serena shook her head.
"I do not know everything."
"I only know he became obsessed after Eleanor received a letter from the bank."
A car engine started somewhere nearby.
All three of them turned.
A black sedan pulled out two rows away.
Claire recognized one of Julian's security drivers.
"Get in my car."
She hurried Evelyn and Serena toward a dark SUV.
The sedan did not follow immediately.
That made Claire even more nervous.
Once they were moving, Serena explained what she had seen during the previous month.
Julian had met twice with a retired attorney named Martin Hale.
Hale had once represented Claire's father, Thomas Vale.
The meetings took place at night.
After the second meeting, Julian returned home furious and burned a folder in the fireplace.
Serena had pulled one half-burned page from the ashes.
It contained the words "contingent beneficiary."
Claire gripped the steering wheel.
"Beneficiary of what?"
"I do not know."
Evelyn spoke from the back seat.
"Grandpa Thomas?"
Claire looked at her daughter in the mirror.
Evelyn had never met him.
She only knew him from photographs Claire kept in a wooden box.
"Yes, sweetheart."
Evelyn frowned.
"Was Uncle Julian hiding Grandpa's key?"
The simplicity of the question made Claire's chest ache.
"I think he was."
Serena turned toward the window.
"There is something else."
Claire waited.
"Julian told me your father stole money from the company."
"That is what everyone says."
"I do not think it is true."
Claire glanced at her.
"Why?"
Serena pulled out her phone and opened a photograph.
It showed an old ledger page with Thomas Vale's signature at the bottom.
Several transfers had been circled in red.
Each payment went to a shell corporation Claire did not recognize.
The authorization initials beside the transfers belonged to Julian.
But Julian had only been eighteen at the time.
"That makes no sense," Claire said.
Serena nodded.
"Unless someone was using his credentials."
Claire already knew who had controlled the company then.
Eleanor.
The SUV turned onto a quieter road.
Claire's phone rang through the dashboard.
Julian's name appeared on the screen.
She rejected the call.
It rang again immediately.
Then a text appeared.
GIVE ME THE KEY AND I WILL FORGET WHAT YOU DID TONIGHT.
Claire almost laughed.
A second message arrived.
IF YOU OPEN B-17, YOU WILL DESTROY DAD'S NAME FOREVER.
Claire read it twice.
Serena leaned closer.
"That is exactly what he wants you to believe."
A third message appeared before Claire could respond.
This one was from an unknown number.
May you like
DO NOT GO TO ARMITAGE BANK.
THEY ARE WAITING FOR YOU.
