Chapter 5
The cold wind whistling through the cracked window seemed to carry the distant, ominous sound of a idling car engine idling down on the street below. Julian’s eyes darted frantically toward the hallway door, his chest heaving as if he had run miles to reach this second-floor hideout.
“What red ledger?” Clara demanded, keeping her voice low but sharp with suspicion. How could she trust a man branded a fugitive by every news outlet in the state? “Julian, you disappeared the night of the funeral. You left us with nothing.”
“I left because they threatened to kill my family if I stayed!” Julian hissed, his voice cracking with genuine anguish. He reached into his wet jacket and pulled out a worn, leather-bound notebook with a faded crimson cover. “Mark gave this to me for safekeeping twenty minutes before his car went off the cliff. It contains every shell company Evelyn used to siphon millions from the municipal pension funds. Your husband didn’t die in a tragic accident, Clara. He was murdered to keep this book out of the hands of the federal investigators.”
Clara staggered backward, her hip hitting the edge of the crib. Lily shifted in her sleep, letting out a soft sigh, unaware that her parents’ ghosts were pulling her into a war of corruption and greed.
“Murdered?” Clara whispered, the word tasting like poison. “The police report said it was brake failure on a wet curve.”
“Mark’s car didn’t have brake failure; I serviced those lines myself the day before,” Julian said, stepping clumsily through the window into the nursery, bringing the smell of rain and danger with him. “And Evelyn was the primary beneficiary of his corporate life insurance policy—a policy he tried to cancel two days before he died.”
Before Clara could process the horrifying scale of the deception, a heavy thud echoed from the front hallway downstairs. The sound of a key turning in the deadbolt clicked with terrifying clarity.
May you like
Julian froze, his face draining of all color. He grabbed Clara’s arm with a grip that left no room for argument. “They’re here. Evelyn had a spare key all along. If they find this ledger in my hands, we all die tonight.”
Clara stared down at the red ledger in Julian’s hand, then toward the nursery door as heavy footsteps began to march up the wooden stairs.
