Chapter 6 - THE LIST
There were eleven names.
Leo Mercer was number eleven.
Arthur sat in a police interview room looking at a printed spreadsheet that made his stomach turn.
Dates.
Names.
Ages.
Payments.
Beside some names was the word RELEASED.
Beside others was TRANSFERRED.
Arthur pointed to the last column.
“What does transferred mean?”
Detective Reed didn’t answer immediately.
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”
Elena sat across from Arthur.
“Are these all children?”
“Looks that way.”
“How long has this been happening?”
“The earliest entry is fourteen years old.”
Arthur stared at him.
“My father was alive then.”
“Yes.”
“Why would he do this?”
“We don’t know.”
Arthur slammed his palm against the table.
“Then find him.”
“We’re trying.”
Reed slid another document forward.
“There were payments tied to each child.”
Arthur read the numbers.
$250,000.
$180,000.
$400,000.
His eyes narrowed.
“Kidnapping?”
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean, not exactly?”
“Some of these payments came from trust accounts.”
Arthur looked up.
“So?”
“So they may have been exploiting inheritance clauses.”
Elena leaned closer.
Reed continued.
“If a beneficiary disappeared, became legally incapacitated, or was presumed dead, control of certain assets could shift.”
Arthur felt the room getting smaller.
“Leo has a trust.”
Reed nodded.
“From your mother.”
Arthur remembered.
His mother had left most of her estate to Arthur, but a separate family trust had been created for any grandchildren.
Leo would gain access at eighteen.
Unless something happened to him.
Arthur’s throat tightened.
“How much?”
“Current value?”
“Yes.”
“About eight-point-four million.”
Elena whispered, “Jesus.”
Arthur stood.
“So Victoria locked him in a wall for eight million dollars?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“There’s a bigger problem.”
Reed turned the page.
One section was highlighted.
SUCCESSOR BENEFICIARY: ARTHUR MERCER.
Arthur stared at his own name.
“If Leo dies…”
“You inherit.”
Arthur laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“So now I’m a suspect.”
“You were always going to be examined.”
Arthur shoved the paper away.
“I searched for him every day.”
“I know.”
“Then why are we sitting here?”
“Because somebody used your electronic signature to file a petition regarding Leo’s disappearance.”
Arthur’s face drained.
“What petition?”
“To begin the process of declaring him legally dead.”
Elena looked at Arthur.
“When?”
Reed answered.
“Four months ago.”
Arthur whispered, “I never signed anything.”
“We believe you.”
“Do you?”
Reed held his gaze.
“I believe somebody wanted it to look like you did.”
Arthur thought of Victoria.
Then Nolan.
Then the man who looked like his dead father.
A uniformed officer entered.
“Detective.”
Reed stepped outside.
A minute later, he returned holding a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a phone.
“Nolan’s,” he said.
“You found him?”
“No. Just this.”
Arthur stood.
Reed turned on the screen.
There was one unsent text message.
It had been written to Arthur.
HELP ME. VICTORIA ISN’T RUNNING THIS. DAD IS.
Arthur stared at the words.
Below them was a second unfinished line.
HE NEVER DIED. AND HE KNOWS YOU FOUND LEO.
May you like
Then the phone went black.
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