Chapter 5
The next two weeks were a blur of FBI meetings, business calls, and long, quiet nights with Jake patrolling the halls.
I threw myself into going through dad’s company records, determined to find every last cent Ethan and Carol had stolen over the years.
And I found it.
Over three years, Ethan had siphoned more than $2.3 million from the company’s construction accounts, falsifying invoices, paying fake contractors, Carol covering his tracks by forging dad’s signature on expense reports.
I sent every spreadsheet, every fake invoice, every email to Agent Miller, and she called me two days later, her voice excited.
“We’re adding 17 more counts of wire fraud and money laundering,” she said. “Even if they make bail, they’re looking at 30 years minimum if convicted.”
I hung up, feeling lighter than I had in months, and turned to tell Jake, who was leaning against the study doorframe watching me work.
He smiled, a small, rare thing that crinkled the corners of his eyes, and my stomach did a little flip I tried very hard to ignore.
That afternoon, there was a knock at the front door.
It was Maria, dad’s old nurse, the woman who’d taken care of him during his last six months. She was in her fifties, her dark hair streaked with gray, her hands twisting a handkerchief so hard her knuckles were white.
“Can I come in?” she asked, her voice trembling. “I have something I need to tell you.”
I led her to the kitchen, made her a cup of tea, and sat across from her, Jake standing quiet in the corner by the door.
“I saw Carol,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “The night your dad died. I came back to get my phone, and I saw her putting something in his evening tea. I didn’t know what it was, not then, but when he died the next morning… I was scared. Ethan said he’d hurt my granddaughter if I said anything.”
She started crying, big, heaving sobs, and I reached across the table and took her hand.
“You’re safe now,” I said. “I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
She agreed to testify, and Agent Miller came out that night to take her statement, putting her and her granddaughter in a safe house until the trial.
That night, I was in the study going over Maria’s statement when I started crying, quiet, helpless sobs that shook my whole body.
All the anger, all the grief, all the fear I’d been holding in for months came spilling out at once.
Jake was there in two seconds, kneeling in front of my chair, his hands warm on my shoulders.
“I’ve got you,” he said, his voice soft. “You’re not alone in this anymore.”
I leaned forward, my forehead resting on his shoulder, and cried until I had no tears left.
May you like
He stayed there, holding me, until my breathing slowed, until the tightness in my chest loosened a little.
For the first time since dad died, I didn’t feel like I was carrying the whole world on my shoulders.
