Chapter 7: The Woman Anna Never Told Me About
I pressed the phone harder against my ear.
Around me, officers moved through the warehouse.
Emma clung to my neck.
Somewhere upstairs, boots pounded across metal flooring.
But the woman's voice on the phone sounded almost peaceful.
“Who are you?””
“You really don't recognize my voice?””
“No.””
A soft laugh.
“Anna always said you weren't good with details.””
My chest tightened.
“Don't say my wife's name.””
“Why? I knew her longer than you did.””
That stopped me.
“How?””
Emma suddenly pulled away from my shoulder.
Her eyes widened at the phone.
I noticed.
“You know that voice?””
She nodded.
The woman heard me.
“Is Emma with you?””
I didn't answer.
Her calmness disappeared.
“Duke, listen carefully. That girl has no idea what she's involved in.””
“She knows enough to be scared of you.””
“You don't understand.””
“Then explain.””
A crash sounded upstairs.
Someone shouted, “Clear!””
Then Ruiz's voice echoed from the stairwell.
“Duke! Stay downstairs!””
The woman sighed.
“You brought police.””
“There's a kidnapped child in a warehouse.””
“She wasn't kidnapped.””
Emma began shaking.
I felt it.
I held her tighter.
“She says otherwise.””
“Children misunderstand things.””
I'd heard that sentence too many times lately.
“What's your name?””
Silence.
Then:
“Victoria Hale.””
The name meant nothing.
Or I thought it did.
Then something flickered in my memory.
Anna's funeral.
A woman standing across the cemetery.
Black coat.
Dark glasses.
She hadn't approached.
I'd assumed she was from Anna's work.
“Were you at my wife's funeral?””
This time Victoria didn't answer immediately.
“Yes.””
“Why didn't you speak to me?””
“Anna wouldn't have wanted me to.””
“You seem awfully comfortable deciding what Anna wanted.””
“I spent twenty-seven years knowing what she wanted.””
Twenty-seven.
Anna had been thirty-eight when she died.
“You knew her since childhood.””
“We were sisters.””
My grip on the phone tightened.
“No.””
“Half sisters, technically.””
“Anna didn't have a sister.””
“She told you that?””
“She told me she was an only child.””
Victoria laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“Then Anna was still protecting everyone until the end.””
The upstairs door burst open.
Two officers came down.
One was helping Sarah.
She had a bruise along her cheek, but she was walking.
Emma saw her.
“Mom!””
I set her down.
She ran.
Sarah dropped to her knees and wrapped both arms around her daughter.
The sight hit me hard.
A parent holding a child after believing they might never get the chance again.
I knew that fear now.
Ruiz followed.
“Richard's gone.””
I covered the phone.
“What?””
“Back exit. Vehicle tracks.””
“Someone fired.””
“Warning shot into the ceiling. Nobody hit.””
I looked toward Sarah.
She was staring at my phone.
Fear crossed her face.
“Victoria?””
I nodded.
Sarah went pale.
That told me more than any explanation.
I returned to the call.
“Sarah knows you.””
Victoria's voice hardened.
“Sarah knows just enough to be dangerous.””
“What do you want?””
“The drive.””
“No.””
“Duke.””
“No.””
“Then people will keep getting hurt.””
I felt something inside me settle.
Not rage.
Certainty.
“You've made one mistake.””
“Oh?””
“You think threatening people makes you powerful.””
“It usually does.””
“Not anymore.””
I ended the call.
Ruiz stared at me.
“Who was that?””
“Victoria Hale.””
Sarah closed her eyes.
Ruiz noticed.
“You know her?””
Sarah held Emma tighter.
“Yes.””
“Who is she?””
Sarah looked toward the officers.
“Not here.””
We moved to the police station.
Not the local precinct.
Ruiz insisted on a state investigative office thirty miles away.
Only her captain knew where we were going.
By midnight, Emma slept on a couch in a private conference room.
Lily was still with Evelyn and Mara.
I wanted to go home.
But I needed answers.
Sarah sat across from me.
Ruiz placed a recorder on the table.
“Start with Victoria.””
Sarah rubbed her hands together.
“She and Anna had the same father.””
“Who?””
“Thomas Hale.””
I recognized that name.
Everyone in the county would have.
Hale Construction.
Hale Properties.
Hale Foundation.
Thomas Hale had died seven years earlier.
He'd been one of the richest men in the region.
“Anna never said anything.””
“Because Thomas abandoned her mother.””
Sarah's voice was quiet.
“Anna grew up with almost nothing. Victoria grew up in the Hale family mansion.””
I remembered Anna's stories.
Small apartment.
Single mother.
Secondhand clothes.
She'd joked that poverty taught her how to repair anything because replacement wasn't an option.
“Did Anna know Victoria?””
“Eventually.””
“When?””
“In college.””
Apparently, Thomas Hale had reached out after Anna's mother died.
Not because guilt suddenly found him.
Because he was sick.
He wanted forgiveness.
Anna didn't give it easily.
But she did agree to meet Victoria.
The sisters built a strange relationship.
Secret.
Complicated.
Victoria feared her wealthy mother would discover Thomas had another daughter.
Anna hated the Hale family and wanted nothing from them.
Until Thomas died.
“He left Anna property,” Sarah said.
“The ballet building?””
“More than that.””
I leaned forward.
“How much more?””
Sarah looked at Ruiz.
Then at me.
“Three commercial properties and shares in two holding companies.””
I almost laughed.
Anna and I had worried about mortgage payments.
We'd argued over whether we could afford a new refrigerator.
“You're telling me my wife inherited millions?””
“She refused most of it.””
That sounded like Anna.
“But she kept the arts building,” Sarah continued.
“Why?””
“For Lily.””
I looked toward the dark window.
Anna had loved music.
Not ballet specifically.
Music.
She used to dance around the kitchen with Lily as a baby.
“She wanted Lily to have something beautiful,” Sarah said.
My throat tightened.
“The trust?””
Sarah nodded.
“Anna created it with me.””
“Why you?””
“We worked together.””
I stared.
“You knew Anna?””
“Since college.””
Another secret.
“How many people knew my wife better than I did?””
Sarah flinched.
I regretted it immediately.
“Sorry.””
“No. You deserve to be angry.””
I stood and paced.
“Why didn't Anna tell me?””
Sarah's eyes softened.
“Because you were taking care of her.””
“What does that mean?””
“She was dying, Duke.””
The word still hurt.
“She didn't want the last months of your marriage consumed by lawyers and inheritance fights.””
“So she left me blind instead?””
“She thought everything was protected.””
“Clearly it wasn't.””
Sarah nodded.
“No.””
After Anna died, Victoria challenged the trust.
She claimed the ballet property belonged to Hale Holdings.
The challenge failed.
So Victoria tried another route.
Richard Shaw.
Richard was a developer desperate for financing.
Victoria provided it.
In return, Richard began creating paperwork that made it appear the trust had transferred its ownership interest.
“Forgery,” Ruiz said.
Sarah nodded.
“I discovered it while reviewing the academy's accounts.””
“And the stolen donations?””
“Part of the same system. Richard moved money through nonprofits and shell companies. Victoria used some of those entities to disguise property transactions.””
My company had become one of them.
“Why Malone Custom Cycles?””
Sarah looked uncomfortable.
“Because of your history.””
I understood before she explained.
A former bar fighter.
Old arrests.
Motorcycle club.
Perfect criminal stereotype.
If authorities found fake invoices tied to my name, they'd believe I was involved.
“And Noah?””
“Richard found his gambling debt.””
I rubbed my face.
Ruiz asked, “Why does Victoria need the USB?””
“Because it contains a recording.””
“What recording?””
Sarah looked at me.
“Anna.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
“Anna recorded a meeting with Victoria shortly before she died.””
I couldn't speak.
“What's on it?””
“I never listened to the whole thing.””
“Why?””
“Anna told me not to unless Victoria challenged Lily's trust.””
“And you put it on the drive?””
“Yes.””
“Where did you get the recording?””
“Anna gave it to me.””
The room seemed smaller.
There was a piece of my wife on that tiny drive.
Her voice.
A message she'd left behind without telling me.
“What does she say?””
Sarah shook her head.
“I don't know all of it.””
I sat down.
Ruiz slid the recorder aside.
“We need to examine the drive.””
I nodded.
This time, I didn't hesitate.
A state forensic technician arrived.
Offline computer.
No network.
Everything documented.
The drive contained hundreds of files.
Financial statements.
Contracts.
Audio.
Photographs.
Then we saw a folder.
ANNA.
My hand trembled when the technician clicked it.
Three recordings.
One document.
A video.
The first audio file began.
Static.
Then Anna's voice.
I hadn't heard it in three years.
I stopped breathing.
“Victoria, sit down.””
Three words.
That was all it took.
I was back in our kitchen.
Anna laughing.
Anna singing badly.
Anna calling me Bear when she wanted something.
I covered my mouth.
Sarah looked away.
The recording continued.
Victoria's younger voice answered.
“You have no right to that property.””
Anna laughed.
“You mean Dad's property?””
“It belongs to the family.””
“I am family.””
“No. You're his mistake.””
My jaw tightened.
Anna remained calm.
“That's what your mother told you?””
“Sign the transfer.””
“No.””
“You don't even want the money.””
“No. But Lily might someday.””
Then Victoria said something that chilled every person in the room.
“Then Lily becomes the problem.””
The recording stopped.
Not because it ended.
Because I reached over and paused it.
Nobody moved.
Ruiz spoke first.
“Duke.””
I stared at the screen.
“She threatened my daughter before Lily was even two.””
“We don't know exactly what she meant.””
“I do.””
My phone buzzed.
Evelyn.
I answered.
“Duke, you need to come home.””
My heart jumped.
“Lily?””
“She's safe.””
“What happened?””
“Someone delivered something.””
“What?””
“A package addressed to Lily.””
I stood.
“Don't open it.””
“We didn't.””
“Call Ruiz.””
Ruiz was already watching me.
“What is it?”” she asked.
Before I could answer, Evelyn spoke again.
“Duke?””
“Yeah?””
“There is a return name on the package.””
“Whose?””
Silence.
May you like
Then:
“Anna Malone.””
