Chapter 7 - THE LAST MEETING
Martin denied killing Lucia.
He denied threatening her.
He denied knowing Sofia existed.
Alexander did not believe the last one.
Police were called.
Detective Lena Brooks took the photograph and Lucia's medical records.
Martin sat in the mansion library with an attorney beside him.
"Why did you meet Lucia?"
"She contacted me."
"About what?"
"Victor's trust."
"Four years after Victor died?"
"She said the Ashfords were accelerating the marriage plan."
"I wasn't even engaged."
"Veronica had already been introduced to you twice."
Alexander remembered.
Charity dinners.
A yacht event.
Coincidences that were not coincidences.
Martin continued.
"Lucia wanted proof Sofia existed entered into the trust before you married."
"Why didn't you help her?"
"I was scared of Charles."
"Of what?"
"Everybody keeps thinking this is about money."
"What is it about?"
"Control."
Charles had compromising files on board members.
Judges.
Bankers.
Executives.
He used debts, affairs, tax problems.
Small weaknesses turned into chains.
Martin had gambling debts.
Charles paid them.
Then owned him.
"Did he tell you to threaten Lucia?"
"No."
"Then why did she die after meeting you?"
"Because someone followed her."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Martin had noticed a gray sedan outside the restaurant.
The same car appeared near Lucia's apartment later that evening.
Brooks checked traffic archives.
Old footage was mostly gone.
But Maria remembered something else.
"Lucia sent me a text that night."
She found an old backup.
HE FOUND ME AGAIN. IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, THE RED FILE GOES TO ALEXANDER.
"What red file?"
"I never found it."
Sofia raised her hand like she was in school.
"My mom had a red folder."
"Where?"
"At the church."
Sofia explained.
Lucia used to take her to St. Anne's every December.
She would leave Sofia with a nun while she went downstairs.
Hannah said, "A safe deposit?"
"No," Maria whispered. "The old church has burial vaults."
They drove there before sunset.
In the basement, behind a loose memorial plaque, they found a red folder wrapped in plastic.
Inside was a single document.
A life insurance policy on Lucia Reyes.
Beneficiary:
Ashford Medical Foundation.
May you like
Coverage:
Five million dollars.
