Chapter 8: The Nine Thousand Dollars
The gunshot changed everything.
Walter grabbed Evelyn and pulled her into the passage.
“Move!””
Marcus followed, clutching the folder.
Behind them, Daniel slammed the concealed panel shut.
“Dad!””
“Keep moving!””
Marcus could hear footsteps above them.
Fast.
Heavy.
Someone shouted.
“Search the basement!””
Another voice answered.
“They can't have gone far!””
The passage was barely wide enough for one person.
Marcus pressed one hand against the wall as he moved.
Dust filled the air.
Walter coughed.
Evelyn whispered, “Where does this lead?””
Daniel answered from behind them.
“Three blocks east.””
Marcus stopped.
“You built a tunnel?””
“Not a tunnel.””
Daniel grabbed his shoulder.
“An old service corridor.””
They continued.
After nearly a minute, they reached a steel door.
Daniel unlocked it.
They emerged into an abandoned maintenance building behind the warehouse.
A black SUV waited across the alley.
Marcus stared.
“Whose is that?””
Daniel nodded toward it.
“Mine.””
Darren came through the door last.
He was breathing hard.
Marcus turned toward him.
“You said they were coming.””
“They are.””
“Who?””
Darren looked at Daniel.
Then at Marcus.
“People who don't want you opening that account.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“You keep saying ‘they.’”
Darren swallowed.
“You think I stole three hundred thousand dollars.””
“You did.””
“I moved it.””
“You took it.””
“I moved it because I knew what they were doing.””
Walter stepped forward.
“My money wasn't yours to move.””
Darren looked at him.
“I know.””
Walter's voice shook.
“Do you?””
Darren lowered his head.
“I know now.””
Marcus stared at him.
“Then tell me everything.””
Darren looked around the alley.
“Not here.””
Marcus grabbed his arm.
“Now.””
Darren winced.
“I was approached in January.””
“By whom?””
“A man named Victor Hale.””
Daniel's expression changed.
Marcus noticed.
“You know him?””
Daniel nodded.
“He was one of my father's board members.””
Darren continued.
“He offered me money.””
“How much?””
“Forty thousand.””
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“Exactly what you asked my father for.””
Darren nodded.
“He knew I was desperate.””
“And you accepted?””
“I accepted an advance.””
“For what?””
“To provide access.””
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
“Access to payroll?””
“Yes.””
Walter stepped back.
Darren continued.
“But I didn't know they intended to take half of every guard's paycheck.””
“What did you think they were doing?””
“Creating a reserve.””
Marcus stared.
“You believed that?””
“At first.””
Darren rubbed his face.
“Then I noticed the deductions.””
“What did you do?””
“I confronted Victor.””
“And?””
“He threatened me.””
“With what?””
“My daughter.””
The alley went silent.
Darren's voice cracked.
“He knew where she went to school. He knew her schedule. He sent me photographs.””
Walter's anger softened for half a second.
Then he remembered his missing wages.
“So you let them keep stealing.””
Darren nodded.
“I was afraid.””
Marcus looked away.
He hated the explanation.
Not because it excused Darren.
Because it made the situation worse.
Darren wasn't the mastermind.
He was another person trapped inside it.
But he had still helped.
Marcus opened the folder.
“Where is the money now?””
Darren looked at the documents.
“Most of it is in the second account.””
“Which account?””
“The one your father created.””
Marcus stared.
“The reserve?””
Darren nodded.
“They moved some of the stolen money there.””
“Why?””
“To make the accounts look legitimate.””
Daniel spoke.
“They were laundering it through the company’s historical reserve.””
Marcus looked at him.
“And the money that didn't go there?””
Darren shook his head.
“I don't know.””
Walter stepped forward.
“You know where mine went.””
Darren looked at him.
“Yes.””
“Where?””
Darren hesitated.
“Some of it was used to pay another employee.””
Walter frowned.
“What?””
Darren pulled out his phone.
He opened a spreadsheet.
Walter’s name appeared.
$9,000 diverted.
Then another name.
$9,000 received.
Walter stared.
“Who?””
Darren showed him.
Walter's face went pale.
It belonged to a young guard named Andre Lewis.
Marcus frowned.
“Why would they pay Andre with Walter's money?””
Darren shook his head.
“It wasn't payment.””
“Then what?””
Andre had received exactly $9,000.
The same amount Walter had lost.
Marcus looked at Daniel.
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“That's not random.””
“What do you mean?””
Daniel took the phone.
“Look at the date.””
Marcus leaned closer.
The $9,000 had been transferred to Andre the same day Walter complained about his missing paycheck.
Marcus understood.
“They moved Walter's money to Andre to make the books balance.””
Daniel nodded.
“Exactly.””
Darren continued scrolling.
“It's happened seventeen times.””
Walter stared.
“Seventeen guards?””
“Twenty-three,” Darren said.
Marcus looked at him.
“Then why did we only find twenty-seven accounts?””
“Because some employees were used as pass-through accounts.””
Evelyn's face hardened.
“Money came in and went out.””
Darren nodded.
“Exactly.””
Marcus stared at the spreadsheet.
“This wasn't just wage theft.””
“No.””
“It was a laundering network.””
Daniel nodded.
“And someone inside Reedstone built it.””
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
She shook her head.
“I told you. I was investigating it.””
Marcus opened the folder.
There was one document he hadn't noticed before.
A handwritten list of employee names.
Next to each name was a number.
Walter.
Andre.
Twenty-one others.
Marcus's eyes widened.
“Dad.””
Daniel looked.
His expression changed.
“What?””
“This list.””
Daniel took it.
“These aren't just guards.””
Marcus looked closer.
“No.””
There were warehouse workers.
Drivers.
Maintenance staff.
Receptionists.
Even employees who had left the company.
Walter whispered, “How many people?””
Marcus counted.
“Forty-eight.””
Darren nodded.
“Forty-eight employees.””
“Forty-eight stolen paychecks.””
“More.””
Marcus looked at him.
Darren swallowed.
“Forty-eight employees were the ones we caught.””
“What about the others?””
Darren shook his head.
“I don't know.””
Marcus felt anger rising again.
“This has been happening for years.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
He pointed to the list.
“Look at the dates.””
Marcus checked.
Some names had dates going back five years.
Others three.
Walter looked at Daniel.
“You knew?””
Daniel's face tightened.
“I suspected.””
“Then why didn't you stop it?””
Daniel looked at his son.
“Because every time I got close, someone inside the company warned them.””
Marcus stared.
“Someone you trusted.””
Daniel nodded.
“Someone I loved.””
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
Marcus noticed.
“Who?””
Daniel didn't answer.
Marcus turned to Darren.
“You know.””
Darren shook his head.
“I don't.””
“You do.””
“I swear.””
Daniel looked at Darren.
“Victor Hale wasn't working alone.””
Darren's face tightened.
“Don't.””
Daniel continued.
“There was someone above him.””
Darren whispered, “You don't know that.””
“I do.””
“Who?””
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“Your father kept the name hidden from everyone.””
Marcus waited.
Daniel opened the folder to the last page.
There was a bank transfer.
The recipient name was partially blacked out.
Only the initials remained.
*A.R.*
Marcus frowned.
“A.R.””
Evelyn looked at the page.
Then suddenly gasped.
“What?””
She pointed.
“That's not an account number.””
Marcus looked closer.
The characters were not digits.
They were initials.
A.R.
Then a date.
Then a handwritten note.
*Beneficiary lives in the house on Hawthorne.*
Marcus stared.
His face went pale.
“Hawthorne?””
Daniel nodded.
“My old house.””
Marcus looked at him.
“Your house?””
“The house where you grew up.””
Marcus remembered it.
The blue shutters.
The oak tree.
The small study where his mother kept family photographs.
He had sold the house years ago.
Or thought he had.
“Who owns it now?””
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
She answered quietly.
“According to county records, the property never changed hands.””
Marcus stared.
“That’s impossible.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“It was transferred into a private trust.””
“Whose trust?””
She looked at the document.
Then stopped.
Marcus took it from her.
At the bottom was the trustee's name.
*Amanda Reed.*
Marcus's mother.
His hands began shaking.
“She’s alive.””
Daniel looked at his son.
“I told you I didn't know.””
Marcus looked toward the dark road.
“If my mother is alive…”
Daniel finished the sentence.
“She knows who is behind this.””
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
It was Walter's.
He answered.
“Hello?””
No one spoke.
Walter pulled the phone away.
The screen showed an unknown number.
A message appeared.
*STOP LOOKING FOR THE MONEY.*
Another message arrived.
*LOOK FOR YOUR MOTHER.*
Walter's eyes widened.
He handed the phone to Marcus.
A final message appeared.
*SHE'S WAITING FOR YOU AT HAWTHORNE.*
Marcus looked at his father.
Daniel's face had gone pale.
“She shouldn't be there.””
“Why?””
Daniel stared at the message.
“Because I locked that house eight years ago.””
Marcus looked toward the waiting SUV.
“Then someone opened it.””
May you like
Daniel nodded.
“And they want us to go inside.””