Chapter 18 - The Shadow Drops|
I hung up the phone, my entire body ice cold.
I ran down the stairs, double-locking every window and door in the house. I checked on Lily, who was fast asleep in her bedroom, her golden retriever curled up at the foot of her bed.
I sat on the living room sofa with my dad's diary in my lap, my hands shaking so badly I could barely hold the pages.
I picked up my phone and dialed Graham’s number.
He answered on the second ring. “Claire? Is everything okay? It’s eleven PM.”
“Graham,” I stammered, my voice breaking. “My mother fled the country. She’s in Zurich. She tried to open a safety deposit box my father left me.”
Silence hung over the line for three long seconds.
“What safety deposit box, Claire?” Graham asked, his voice suddenly dropping into his professional tone.
“My dad left a diary,” I explained frantically. “He knew Vanessa wasn't his daughter, Graham. Vanessa is Richard Vance’s daughter!”
Graham let out a sharp gasp over the phone.
Richard Vance—the man who had stolen millions from Graham’s father’s firm twelve years ago before vanishing into thin air—was Vanessa’s real father.
“Claire, listen to me very carefully,” Graham said, his voice deadly serious. “Are you at home right now?”
“Yes, I’m in the living room with Lily.”
“Lock your doors. I’m driving over right now. Do not open the door for anyone except me.”
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“Graham, what’s going on?” I pleaded, panic rising in my throat.
“Richard Vance didn't just disappear twelve years ago, Claire,” Graham revealed softly. “He’s been running an international money laundering syndicate out of Switzerland. If your father had his ledger in that vault, you’re sitting on the only evidence that can put Vance and his entire network in federal prison forever.”
