Chapter 3 - THE ACCOUNT WITH MY DAUGHTER'S NAME
Rebecca didn't say hello.
She didn't ask whether I had slept.
She simply said:
“I found the townhouse.”
“And?”
“Gaby signed a transfer.”
My stomach dropped.
“Can we reverse it?”
“Possibly.”
“Possibly?”
“There are irregularities.”
“What kind?”
“The notarization is questionable. The receiving company is suspicious. But Robert, that's not why I'm calling.”
I looked at Gaby.
She was holding Leo near the motel window.
“What did you find?”
“A bank account.”
“I already told you they emptied hers.”
“Not that one.”
I went quiet.
Rebecca continued.
“This account carries Gabriella's name and Social Security information.”
Gaby turned toward me.
“She never opened it.”
“I know.”
“How much?”
Rebecca hesitated.
That frightened me.
“Rebecca.”
“Nine hundred twenty-seven thousand dollars passed through it.”
I thought I had heard wrong.
“How much?”
“$927,000.”
Gaby stared at me.
“What?”
I put the phone on speaker.
“I've never had that kind of money,” she said immediately.
Rebecca answered:
“I believe you.”
“Where did it come from?”
“I'm still tracing it.”
“When?”
“Robert…”
Rebecca took a breath.
“The account was created five months before Leo was born.”
Silence.
Every assumption I had made collapsed at once.
The papers after childbirth hadn't started this.
The missing house hadn't started this.
Someone had been using my daughter's identity while she was still pregnant.
“Why?”
I asked.
“I don't know yet.”
Rebecca's voice lowered.
“But this was planned.”
I looked at the clock.
8:18.
Tyler wanted to meet at nine.
I grabbed my keys.
Gaby immediately stood.
“No.”
“I have to go.”
“He said alone.”
“Exactly.”
“Dad.”
“I'll call Rebecca the entire time.”
Rebecca interrupted.
“No, you won't.”
“What?”
“If he's genuinely turning on them, he may run if he sees a phone.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“I suggest you don't trust him.”
Great.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
Her tone became harder.
“If Tyler gives you documents, don't alter them.”
“Understood.”
“If he asks you for money, agree to nothing.”
“Understood.”
“And Robert?”
“What?”
“If he tells you Gaby committed a crime, do not react.”
I looked at my daughter.
“What are you talking about?”
“That $927,000 account could make her look involved.”
Gaby's face emptied.
“But I didn't do anything.”
Rebecca replied immediately.
“Then we're going to prove it.”
I drove to the location Tyler sent.
An abandoned gas station on the edge of Phoenix.
The sign had faded beneath years of sun.
Tyler was already there.
His black sedan remained running.
He got out holding a flash drive.
“You came alone.”
“You asked me to.”
He looked past me anyway.
“Where's Gaby?”
“Safe.”
“No place is safe if Brenda knows about it.”
“What is this?”
I pointed at the drive.
Tyler didn't hand it over.
“Before I give you anything, understand something.”
“Talk.”
“You think Derek runs the family.”
“I never said that.”
“Good.”
Tyler almost smiled.
“Because he doesn't.”
“Brenda?”
Tyler nodded.
“Derek likes expensive things. Mason likes feeling important.”
“And Brenda?”
“Brenda likes owning people.”
I stared at him.
“What did she do to my daughter?”
Tyler looked toward the empty highway.
“Which part?”
That answer chilled me.
“My daughter had a house.”
“Brenda took it.”
“She had money.”
“Brenda took that too.”
“The $927,000?”
Tyler's expression changed.
“So you found it.”
“What is it?”
He finally gave me the flash drive.
“That money never belonged to Gaby.”
“Then why is her name on it?”
“Because Brenda needed someone to blame when everything collapsed.”
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
“They framed her?”
“They're framing her.”
Present tense.
That mattered.
“What happens next?”
Tyler rubbed his jaw.
“First they make her look unstable.”
“They've already done that.”
“Then they make her look like a thief.”
My pulse quickened.
“Then?”
Tyler looked directly at me.
“They take Leo.”
I stepped toward him.
“Why?”
“Leverage.”
“For what?”
“You.”
The word landed between us.
“What do I have to do with this?”
Tyler hesitated.
A vehicle appeared at the far end of the road.
He saw it.
His face went white.
“We're done.”
I grabbed his arm.
“Not until you explain.”
He pulled away.
“You're still thinking this started with Derek meeting Gaby.”
“Didn't it?”
“No.”
The approaching SUV accelerated.
Tyler ran toward his car.
I shouted after him.
“When did it start?”
He opened his door.
Then turned back.
“Before Derek ever met your daughter.”
My body went cold.
“How?”
“Ask yourself why Brenda knew how much your old company sold for.”
I stared at him.
I had sold Hayes Electrical nine years earlier.
The sale was private.
Very few people knew the exact figure.
“How does Brenda know that?”
Tyler didn't answer.
He drove away.
The SUV was getting closer.
I got into my car and left.
Halfway back to Phoenix, Gaby called.
She was crying.
“Dad.”
“What happened?”
“Someone is outside.”
“Who?”
“They said they're from Child Protective Services.”
My stomach dropped.
“Don't open the door.”
“I didn't.”
Then I heard pounding through the phone.
A woman's voice shouted:
“Gabriella Hayes! We need to speak with you regarding your child!”
Gaby whispered:
“How did they find us?”
May you like
I had no answer.
Then the line went dead.
