Chapter 5 - THE SECRET ACCOUNT
The next morning, I met Daniel Price at a coffee shop downtown.
He was in his fifties, gray-haired, clean-cut, and looked more like a retired professor than a private investigator.
He placed a folder on the table.
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“For taking the job.”
I opened the folder.
Inside were photographs.
Bank statements.
Property records.
Company registrations.
And one document that made my hands go cold.
A life insurance policy.
Mark was the beneficiary.
Linda had taken it out six months before moving into my condo.
The insured person was...
me.
I stared at the page.
“What is this?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“When was this opened?”
“Five months ago.”
“Without my knowledge?”
“Yes.”
I looked at the signature.
It wasn't mine.
Again.
“How did they get my identification?”
“I don't know.”
He slid another document toward me.
“That's not the worst part.”
The beneficiary had been changed.
Mark was no longer listed.
The new beneficiary was an offshore trust.
I looked up.
“Whose trust?”
Daniel hesitated.
“That's the part I couldn't confirm.”
“Try.”
He opened another folder.
“There is a company in Delaware.”
He gave me the name.
Northstar Family Trust.
I stared.
“I've never heard of it.”
“I believe you.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Your mother-in-law has been moving money through several entities.”
“How much?”
“Approximately two million dollars.”
I almost laughed.
“Two million?”
“Yes.”
“Where did she get it?”
Daniel looked at me.
“That is the question.”
Then he said something that changed everything.
“I think your husband knows.”
I went still.
“Why?”
“Because every time your husband meets someone connected to the trust, your mother-in-law knows within hours.”
“Someone is monitoring him?”
“Possibly.”
“Who?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
I closed the folder.
“Then find out.”
He nodded.
“How far do you want me to go?”
“As far as legally possible.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“You're not what your family thinks you are.”
“No.”
I stood.
“They thought I was the woman who cooked dinner.”
I picked up the folder.
“They forgot I balance books for a living.”
That afternoon, I returned home.
Linda was waiting.
She stood in the kitchen.
“We need to talk.”
“No.”
“You're destroying this family.”
I laughed.
“You forged my signature.”
“I didn't.”
“Someone did.”
She looked away.
“Mark loves you.”
“Then he should have protected me.”
“He was trying.”
“By helping you hide money?”
Her eyes flashed.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She stepped closer.
“You think this is about you.”
“Isn't it?”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“This is about Mark.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
Linda looked toward the hallway.
Then whispered:
“You don't know what your husband did before he married you.”
My heart stopped.
“What did he do?”
Linda's lips trembled.
But before she could answer, Rachel walked into the room.
“Mom.”
Linda immediately stopped talking.
Rachel looked at me.
“Don't ask questions you don't want answered.”
I stared at both women.
May you like
Then smiled.
“Now I'm definitely asking.”
