Chapter 6 - The Secret Account Mason Forgot About
Arthur found Project D in twenty-six hours.
Not because Mason had left it somewhere obvious.
Because Mason had made the mistake arrogant people always make.
He assumed nobody else could understand his system.
The trail began with a holding company registered in Delaware.
That company controlled another entity in Nevada.
That entity had a consulting agreement with Bennett Technologies.
And that agreement sent monthly payments to an account in the Cayman Islands.
Arthur projected the transactions onto a conference-room screen.
“Project D received $4.8 million over three years.”
“From Daisy’s trust?”
“Indirectly.”
I felt sick.
“What does indirectly mean?”
“Mason moved money from the medical reserve into Bennett Technologies under the classification of reimbursement advances.”
“Reimbursement for what?”
“Services that appear never to have existed.”
Dad sat beside me.
His expression was unreadable.
Arthur continued.
“Then Bennett Technologies paid Project D.”
“So he washed Daisy’s money through his company.”
“That appears to be what investigators will examine.”
“And what did Project D buy?”
Arthur changed the slide.
A condominium in Miami.
A villa in Turks and Caicos.
Two luxury vehicles.
Jewelry.
Private aircraft expenses.
And something called Palmer Vision Holdings.
I almost laughed.
“Chloe.”
“Yes.”
Half a million dollars had gone into a medical-investment company in her name.
Chloe had claimed Mason handled everything.
She had not mentioned this.
“Does she own it?”
“On paper.”
“What does the company do?”
“Currently? Almost nothing.”
“Then why fund it?”
“We believe Mason intended to establish a specialty-healthcare investment business with Chloe after leaving Bennett Technologies.”
Dad finally spoke.
“After leaving Alyssa too.”
Arthur nodded.
There it was.
Mason had not merely been stealing.
He had been building another life.
A future without me.
Possibly without Daisy.
For years I believed Chloe was an affair.
Now I realized she was an exit plan.
My phone rang.
Mason.
I let it go to voicemail.
Thirty seconds later he called again.
Then again.
Arthur said, “Don’t answer unless you want to.”
“I want to.”
Dad looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because for six years, he decided when conversations ended.”
I answered.
“Mason.”
His voice sounded rough.
“What did you tell Chloe?”
“Nothing.”
“She met with you.”
“Yes.”
“She’s lying.”
“About which part?”
“All of it.”
I looked at Arthur.
He quietly activated a recording system after confirming Georgia law and the legal strategy with me.
Mason continued.
“Chloe is trying to save herself.”
“Probably.”
“She canceled the medication without my permission.”
“We have your message.”
“That message is out of context.”
“What context makes ‘Leave it’ sound good?”
Silence.
Then his voice softened.
“Alyssa, I loved Daisy.”
My eyes filled despite myself.
I hated him for saying her name.
“She loved you too.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Alyssa—”
“She waited for you.”
“What?”
“The night you came into Room 417.”
Silence.
I knew then he had not expected me to know about the recording.
“You heard it?”
“Yes.”
His breathing changed.
“That was private.”
“Our daughter was dying.”
“I didn’t know she was going to die.”
“She asked if her medicine was coming.”
“I was trying not to scare her.”
“You knew it had been canceled.”
“I thought she had time.”
“Her cardiologist told you she didn’t.”
Another silence.
Then the mask slipped.
“You think your father is doing this because he cares about Daisy?”
I almost smiled.
There he was.
The real Mason.
“Here we go.”
“He wanted my company from the beginning.”
“My daughter is dead.”
“And he’s using it.”
“My daughter is dead.”
“He froze our credit lines before she was even buried.”
“My daughter is dead.”
“Do you know how many people could lose jobs?”
That was Mason’s favorite weapon.
Consequences.
Always someone else’s.
If I challenged him, employees suffered.
If I exposed him, investors suffered.
If I refused Chloe access to Daisy’s body, Chloe suffered.
Everyone mattered except the person Mason was hurting.
“I want a divorce,” I said.
Silence.
“Don’t do this while you’re grieving.”
“I decided before the funeral.”
“We can fix this.”
“No.”
“We can go to counseling.”
“No.”
“I’ll fire Chloe.”
I closed my eyes.
“You still think this is about the affair.”
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“You have it.”
“No. I have documents.”
“What difference does that make?”
“Documents don’t lie when they’re scared.”
Mason hung up.
Arthur stopped the recording.
Dad stared at the table.
Then he said, “He’ll run.”
Arthur looked at him.
“Possibly.”
“No,” Dad said. “He will.”
“How do you know?”
“Because men like Mason believe consequences are things that happen to other people.”
That evening a court issued temporary restrictions on several disputed accounts while investigations continued.
Mason’s passport was not seized.
There was not yet a basis for that.
At 2:14 the next morning, my phone rang.
Arthur.
“Mason’s private jet filed a flight plan.”
I sat up.
“To where?”
“Cayman Islands.”
Dad was already awake when I entered the kitchen.
“Arthur called you?”
“Yes.”
“Can anyone stop him?”
“Not unless law enforcement has legal grounds.”
I stared at him.
“So he can leave?”
“He can try.”
At 3:02, another call.
This time Detective Ruiz.
“Mason Bennett has been asked to remain available for questioning.”
“Asked?”
“For now.”
“Is he leaving?”
“He arrived at the airport.”
My heart pounded.
Then Ruiz said something unexpected.
“But he isn’t alone.”
“Chloe?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“A Bennett Technologies employee.”
“Which one?”
She gave me a name.
Ethan Cole.
Mason’s chief financial officer.
I remembered Ethan.
Quiet.
Careful.
Always nervous around Mason.
“What is he doing there?”
Ruiz answered.
“We think he was supposed to leave with Mason.”
“Supposed to?”
“There was an argument.”
“What happened?”
“Mr. Cole walked away from the aircraft.”
I held my breath.
“And?”
“He called us.”
Thirty minutes later, Ethan handed investigators a laptop.
On that laptop was a folder.
Its name was only one letter.
D.
May you like
And inside it was a spreadsheet called:
FINAL CLOSEOUT – DAISY.
