Chapter 5 - The Account Nobody Was Supposed to See
Megan's second phone contained enough information to make Thomas forget, briefly, that he was sitting in a hospital.
Detective Ortiz could not show him everything because the device was evidence, but she summarized what the investigators had confirmed.
For almost eight months, Megan had been tracking irregular transfers connected to the Lane Family Trust, a fund created by her late father.
The trust was supposed to support Judith during retirement and preserve a portion for Megan and Eli.
Instead, large amounts had moved through a consulting company called Harbor Ridge Advisory.
Harbor Ridge shared a mailing address with a business registered to Nathan Cole's nephew.
Thomas had never heard the name before.
Megan had.
She had highlighted it repeatedly in screenshots.
One audio recording captured Megan confronting Judith two weeks earlier.
Ortiz read Thomas a short transcript.
"Mom, where did the money go?"
Judith answered, "You are looking at things you don't understand."
Megan said, "Then explain them."
Judith said, "Ask Nathan."
Megan replied, "I did."
Then the recording ended.
Thomas rubbed both hands over his face.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
Ortiz looked at him carefully.
"There's another recording where she explains that."
Thomas waited.
"She says she didn't want your company dragged into it."
"Why would my company be dragged into her family's trust?"
Ortiz turned one page in her notebook.
"Because three transfers passed through an account belonging to Reed Residential Projects."
Thomas stood.
"That's impossible."
"The account number matches one of yours."
"I would know."
"Would you?"
He stared at her.
"Nathan helped restructure your financing three years ago."
Thomas understood before she finished.
Nathan had access to old authorizations.
Nathan knew the company books.
Nathan had been treated like family.
"He used me."
Ortiz did not confirm it.
"We're still tracing the money."
Thomas paced to the window.
Below them, cars moved through the hospital entrance as if this were an ordinary Wednesday.
"Judith knew?"
"The recordings suggest she knew some money was moving."
"Some?"
"We don't yet know whether she understood the whole structure."
Thomas laughed once, bitterly.
"You didn't hear her in that hallway."
"She knows exactly what she's doing."
Ortiz's phone buzzed.
She looked at the message and frowned.
"What?"
"Nathan Cole's office says he's out of town."
"Where?"
"They won't say."
"Then get a warrant."
Ortiz gave him a look.
"That's not how quickly this works."
"My wife is unconscious."
"I know."
"My son was on the floor."
"I know."
"And the man connected to her evidence is suddenly out of town."
Ortiz stepped closer.
"Thomas, listen to me."
"The fastest way to ruin this case is to force something before we have legal ground."
"If Nathan thinks we're still looking mostly at you, he may make a mistake."
Thomas hated the logic because it meant remaining publicly suspicious.
That afternoon, Judith made sure the suspicion became public.
A local reporter was waiting near the hospital entrance when Thomas went outside for coffee.
"Mr. Reed, did police question you about the substance found in your kitchen?"
Thomas stopped.
Another reporter raised a phone.
"Is it true you and your wife argued before the incident?"
Thomas looked back at the hospital doors.
Only a few people knew those details.
Judith was standing behind the glass.
She did not wave.
Thomas walked away without answering.
Within an hour, a local news site posted a short story describing a "domestic investigation" at the Reed home.
It never called Thomas a suspect.
It did not need to.
His business phone began ringing.
A client canceled a renovation contract.
A subcontractor asked if he should still report Monday.
Thomas's foreman, Marcus Hill, called twice.
"Tell me what you need," Marcus said.
"I need everyone to stop deciding I did something before they know anything."
"Then don't read comments."
Thomas almost laughed.
"Too late."
That evening, Eli asked why people on television were showing their house.
Thomas muted the screen.
"Because sometimes people talk before they know the whole story."
Eli picked at the edge of his blanket.
"Grandma said that too."
Thomas looked at him.
"When?"
"Yesterday."
"What exactly did she say?"
Eli frowned, thinking.
"She said people make mistakes when they talk too much."
Thomas's stomach tightened.
"Did she say that before or after you drank the lemonade?"
"Before."
He wanted to ask more, but Ortiz's warning echoed in his head.
He stopped.
An hour later, a doctor entered with news Thomas had been waiting for.
Megan was showing stronger neurological responses.
They were reducing sedation and hoped she would wake within the next day.
Thomas felt hope for the first time since entering the kitchen.
He went to her room and sat beside her until after midnight.
At twelve-forty, her fingers moved.
Thomas stood immediately.
"Megan?"
Her eyelids fluttered.
He pressed the call button.
"Megan, it's me."
Her eyes opened slightly.
She seemed not to recognize him at first.
Then fear appeared.
Not confusion.
Fear.
"It's okay," Thomas said.
"You're at the hospital."
Megan tried to speak.
He leaned closer.
"What?"
Her voice was barely air.
"Don't let her near Eli."
Thomas's entire body went still.
"Who?"
Megan's eyes shifted toward the doorway.
Thomas turned.
The hallway was empty.
When he looked back, Megan had already slipped into sleep again.
May you like
But her next whispered word was unmistakable.
"Mom."
