Chapter 4 - The Man Who Came for Evelyn
The next twelve minutes were the longest of Meline's life.
Hospital security reviewed cameras.
Preston made calls.
Meline stood beside a monitor watching footage of her mother moving slowly through the lobby beside a man wearing hospital identification.
The badge was fake.
The man kept his face turned from cameras.
Evelyn looked completely calm.
That was somehow worse.
"Zoom in," Meline said.
Security enlarged the image.
The man's hand rested lightly beneath Evelyn's elbow.
No visible force.
No panic.
"He told her something," Meline whispered.
Preston stood beside her.
"What?"
"I don't know."
Then Meline noticed Evelyn's right hand.
Her mother was touching her necklace.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Meline leaned closer.
"What is it?" Preston asked.
"She's leaving me a message."
"How?"
"When I was little, Mom and I had a game. Three touches meant remember."
"Remember what?"
Meline watched the footage again.
Evelyn looked toward a sign above the exit.
East 98th Street.
Then she touched the necklace three times.
"She wants me to remember the direction."
They pulled traffic-camera footage.
The vehicle traveled east.
Then south.
It disappeared near FDR Drive.
Preston's phone rang.
Gideon.
He answered on speaker.
"Where are you?" Preston demanded.
"Office."
"Stay there."
"Why?"
"Evelyn Ross was taken from Mount Sinai."
Silence.
Then Gideon whispered, "Oh God."
Meline watched Preston.
"You know something," Preston said.
"No."
"Gideon."
"I swear."
"Then why do you sound terrified?"
Another silence.
Finally Gideon said, "Because I know who might have done it."
Twenty minutes later they were inside Caldwell and Hayes Capital's Manhattan headquarters.
Gideon stood behind his desk.
His hands trembled.
Meline had seen frightened men before.
He wasn't acting.
"His name is Victor Dane," Gideon said.
Preston's face hardened.
"That's impossible."
"Who is Victor Dane?" Meline asked.
Preston answered.
"My former chief financial officer."
"Former?"
"He died two years ago."
Gideon shook his head.
"No. We were told he died."
Meline stared at him.
Gideon opened a drawer.
Inside was a flash drive.
"Victor built Meridian's network."
Preston looked stunned.
"You knew?"
"I found out after the acquisition."
"And said nothing?"
"I was afraid."
"Of Victor?"
"Of you."
That landed hard.
Preston said nothing.
Gideon looked at Meline.
"Victor told everyone Preston wanted Meridian. He told us Preston approved everything."
Meline looked toward Preston.
"Did you?"
"Some."
"How much?"
Preston's jaw tightened.
"Enough."
Gideon continued.
"But Victor went further. Shell companies. Political intermediaries. Hidden transfers. When regulators started asking questions, Victor disappeared."
"And you kept the ledger," Meline said.
Gideon nodded.
"Insurance."
"Where is it?"
He held up the drive.
"Here."
Preston stepped forward.
Gideon pulled it back.
"No."
"Gideon."
"If Victor is alive, this is the only reason I'm still breathing."
Meline stared at the drive.
"Then it's also the reason he took my mother."
Gideon looked sick.
"I didn't know he'd target you."
Meline stepped closer.
"Give it to me."
"No."
"My mother was dragged into this because two rich men were too cowardly to expose what was happening inside their own company."
Preston flinched.
Gideon looked down.
Meline held out her hand.
"Give me the drive."
After several seconds, Gideon placed it in her palm.
Preston's phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
He answered.
"Hello?"
A distorted voice spoke.
"Ms. Ross is with you."
Not a question.
Preston looked at Meline.
"Yes."
"Put me on speaker."
He did.
"Meline."
She recognized Evelyn breathing in the background.
"Mom?"
"I'm okay, sweetheart."
Meline nearly collapsed with relief.
Then the male voice returned.
"You have something that belongs to me."
"The ledger?"
"Very good."
"Let my mother go."
"Bring the drive."
"Where?"
"You'll receive instructions."
Preston stepped forward.
"You don't need her."
The caller laughed.
"Preston Caldwell. Still believing every room belongs to you."
Preston's face went pale.
"Victor."
"Hello, old friend."
The call ended.
Nobody spoke.
Then Meline looked at Preston.
"You knew his voice."
Preston slowly sat down.
"Yes."
"What aren't you telling me?"
His silence lasted too long.
"Preston."
Finally he looked at her.
"Victor didn't simply work for me."
"Then what?"
Preston swallowed.
"He was my partner before Gideon."
Gideon stared at him.
"What?"
Preston continued.
"Victor helped me build Caldwell Capital from the beginning."
Meline's anger rose.
"And?"
"And when I discovered what he was doing with Meridian, I didn't expose him."
"Why?"
"Because exposing him would have exposed me."
There it was.
The truth.
Not innocence.
Complicity.
Meline stepped back.
"You let everyone believe he was dead."
"Yes."
"And now my mother is paying for your cowardice."
Preston couldn't meet her eyes.
"Yes."
Meline wanted to hate him.
Maybe she did.
But hatred would not bring Evelyn home.
She inserted the drive into an isolated laptop.
Folders appeared.
Transactions.
Names.
Accounts.
Then one folder caught her attention.
ROSS.
Meline froze.
She opened it.
Inside were scanned documents from three years earlier.
Her Beirut report.
Photographs of her.
Travel records.
Evelyn's medical history.
Everything.
At the bottom was an audio file.
Meline clicked it.
Victor Dane's voice filled the room.
"If Ross ever resurfaces, Caldwell must never learn why she left Beirut."
Meline stopped breathing.
Preston stared at the computer.
"Why you left?"
Meline whispered:
May you like
"I left because my mother got sick."
But suddenly, for the first time in three years, she wondered whether that was the whole truth.
