How much he had carried alone.
She sat back down.
“What do we do now?”
James looked at her.
“You leave.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“No.”
“Naomi—”
“I can't spend my life running from people I don't even know.”
Her father stared at her.
For the first time, he saw something in his daughter that reminded him of her mother.
Not stubbornness.
Courage.
The kind that frightened him.
That afternoon, Naomi returned to Henry's office.
He was waiting.
“You found the letter.”
She stopped.
“How do you know?”
Henry looked at her.
“Because I knew your mother.”
Naomi's face went cold.
“You knew her?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She helped my company twenty-seven years ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wasn't sure whether you were ready.”
“I am now.”
Henry nodded.
“Then you need to hear the whole story.”
He closed the office door.
“Your mother wasn't investigating Victor alone.”
“Who else?”
“Edward Calloway.”
Naomi stared.
“My mother's letter said to fear him.”
Henry sighed.
“She didn't know everything.”
“What don't I know?”
“Edward created the original network.”
“What network?”
“Northstar.”
The name sounded familiar.
Naomi remembered seeing it in old financial documents.
“What was Northstar?”
“An investment network.”
“That's it?”
“No.”
Henry opened an old file.
“Northstar was designed to move money without attracting attention.”
“Why?”
“To buy land before governments announced major infrastructure projects.”
Naomi looked at him.
“So they manipulated real-estate markets.”
“Yes.”
“And Victor?”
“Victor became one of the most successful people using the system.”
Naomi's stomach tightened.
“The waterfront project.”
Henry nodded.
“Victor already knows the land is going to increase in value.”
“How?”
“Because he has information the public doesn't have.”
“What information?”
Henry opened another document.
A city planning map.
Naomi recognized the shoreline.
“There is a transit expansion planned here.”
Henry pointed.
“The city hasn't announced it.”
“When will they?”
“Six months.”
Naomi understood.
Victor was trying to buy the land before the announcement.
Then sell it for several times the price.
“That isn't illegal.”
“Not by itself.”
Henry handed her another document.
“These shell companies are buying the land through intermediaries.”
Naomi read the names.
Then she saw one she recognized.
Her mother's name.
Naomi stopped breathing.
“That's impossible.”
Henry looked at her.
“Your mother owned shares in one of these companies.”
“No.”
“She did.”
“She would never.”
“She wasn't stealing.”
“Then why?”
Henry's expression became serious.
“She was trying to expose them from inside.”
That night, Naomi returned home.
Her father was asleep.
She walked into his room.
On the wall was a photograph of her mother.
Naomi touched the frame.
“I know, Mom.”
She whispered.
“I know you were trying to tell me.”
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A voice said:
“Your mother should have stayed quiet.”
Naomi froze.
“Who is this?”
“You're asking questions again.”
“Who are you?”
“You don't remember me.”
The line went dead.
Naomi stared at the phone.
Then she heard a noise outside.
She looked through the window.
A black car sat across the street.
Its headlights were off.
Someone was inside.
Watching.
NORTHSTAR
The next morning, Naomi made a decision.
She wasn't going to run.
She was going to investigate.
Henry agreed to help.
So did his legal team.
But he warned her.
“Once you start, you may not be able to stop.”
Naomi looked at him.
“I already started twenty years ago.”
“What do you mean?”
“My mother started this.”
Henry smiled sadly.
“That is exactly what I'm afraid of.”
They began with Northstar.
Henry gave Naomi access to archived financial records.
She spent twelve hours reading.
By midnight, she had discovered something.
Northstar wasn't one company.
It was hundreds.
Some existed for weeks.
Others for decades.
Money moved through them in circles.
Hong Kong.
Singapore.
Vancouver.
San Francisco.
London.
Then back.
Naomi drew connections on a whiteboard.
One company purchased land.
Another provided financing.
A third created a consulting contract.
A fourth transferred money.
By the time the money returned to the United States, its origin had disappeared.
It was brilliant.
And terrifying.
“Who designed this?” Naomi asked.
Henry looked at the board.
“Edward Calloway.”
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
“Why did he do it?”
Henry was silent.
“Power.”
Naomi looked at him.
“That's not enough.”
“No.”
“What was he trying to buy?”
Henry pointed to the map.
“Influence.”
At two in the morning, Naomi found something.
A transaction from 1998.
It was labeled:
PROJECT TWELVE.
Amount:
$47 million.
Recipient:
CARTER STRATEGIC HOLDINGS.
Naomi stared.
Her family had never owned such a company.
She searched the registration.
The company had been created one day before the transaction.
Its registered director was—
James Carter.
Her father.
Naomi stopped breathing.
“No.”
Henry walked over.
“What?”
“My father.”
She pointed.
“His name.”
Henry read the document.
His face changed.
“That's impossible.”
“My father wasn't involved.”
“We need to ask him.”
Naomi closed the file.
“Yes.”
When she returned home, her father was waiting.
“You found it.”
Naomi stopped.
“You knew?”
James looked exhausted.
“I knew you would eventually.”
“Did you take the money?”
“No.”
“Then why is your name on the company?”
“Because Victor made me sign.”
“Why?”
“He threatened your mother.”
Naomi sat down.
“What happened to the money?”
“I don't know.”
“You must.”
“I never had it.”
“Then where did it go?”
James shook his head.
“Your mother found out.”
“And?”
“She confronted Victor.”
“What happened?”
“He told us that if we went to the police, he would destroy you.”
Naomi stared.