Chapter 6: The Place He Hid the Money
Delia held out her hand.
“Show me the transfer.”
Malik buttoned his jacket.
“Get a court order.”
Harold stood straighter.
“That money belonged to your father and me.”
“He left it to the family.”
“He left it to me.”
“And I’m your family.”
I stepped beside Harold.
“A family member doesn’t trick his mother into surrendering her home.”
Malik looked at me.
“You still owe this venue two hundred and forty thousand dollars.
Harold’s account is frozen, and your property is tied to my company.
How long do you think your courage will last?”
The office door opened again.
A woman with a bank identification badge entered beside a security officer.
“I’m Maren Holt, senior financial investigator.”
Malik lifted his chin.
“You have no authority to take my phone.”
“I didn’t ask for it.
We traced the transfer without it.”
His smile faded.
Maren set a printed page in front of Harold.
“Three hundred thousand dollars moved from your retirement account into MC Holdings.
From there, Mr.
Carter attempted to send it to an account registered in the Cayman Islands.”
“Attempted?” I asked.
“The receiving institution held it for compliance review.
The funds have not cleared.”
Harold’s knees weakened again.
I put an arm around her.
“Can she get it back?”
“We need her to confirm she never authorized the transfer.”
“I never authorized it,” Harold said.
“Not one dollar.”
Maren turned the page toward Malik.
“Your login was used.
Your phone received the security code.”
“My mother gave me permission.”
“Then why did the transfer description say ‘medical care’?”
“She may need medical care.”
“You directed the money to a company you control.”
Malik pointed at Delia.
“This is harassment.
I want everyone out.”
The manager folded his arms.
“This is my office.”
Malik turned to Graham.
“Uncle, tell them Mom promised me that money.”
Graham removed a small key from his pocket and placed it on the desk.
“This is the key to the apartment I let you use.
Your belongings will be packed tomorrow.”
“You’d throw me out over a misunderstanding?”
“I heard the recording.”
“You’ve always been jealous of me.”
Graham’s mouth tightened.
“I was proud of you until this morning.”
Malik looked from face to face, searching for someone who would still bend.
Then he pointed at Harold.
“If you continue this, I’ll challenge your mental capacity.
I’ll tell the court you can’t manage your affairs.
You could lose control of everything.”
Harold went pale.
“You would do that to me?”
“I’m trying to protect what belongs to our family.”
Delia stepped between them.
“Threatening her in front of a bank investigator was an interesting choice.”
Malik moved toward the door.
“I’m finished talking.”
The manager blocked his path and held up a tablet.
“There’s something else you should see.”
A security video appeared on the screen.
It showed Malik at the venue three weeks earlier, seated alone near the reception desk.
He had Harold’s phone in one hand and a stack of documents in the other.
Maren leaned closer.
“Can you enlarge the time stamp?”
The manager tapped the screen.
“It was 9:11 p.m.
Our cameras caught him photographing her identification and approving something on her phone.”
Malik’s face drained of color.
“My mother asked me to help her.”
Harold shook her head.
“You told me you were ordering a ride home.”
The manager advanced the video.
Malik placed the phone beside Harold’s open purse, then slipped two pages inside his jacket.
Delia pointed at the screen.
“Those pages match the missing sections of the power-of-attorney packet.”
Malik backed toward the door.
“You still can’t prove what was on that phone.”
Maren’s own phone rang.
She answered and listened without speaking.
“What is it?” Delia asked.
Maren lowered the phone.
“The bank recovered the device history.
But we found something else attached to Ms.
Bennett’s loan application.”
I tightened my grip on Harold’s hand.
“What?”
May you like
“A message from your email address,” Maren said.
“It appears to tell Malik that you agreed to the entire plan.”
